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19S2 


MAR 


I    MAR  0  6  1984 


L161 


— O-1096 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/celestialcitygliOOburn 


THE 


GLIMPSES  WITHIN  THE  GATES. 


Rev.  JAMES  D.  BURNS,  M.  A. 

HAMPSTEAD,  LONDON. 


MAY  12 

<fi.uaiiy  tiF 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 
28  CoRNHiLL,  Boston. 


OF  THE 

933 


RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 
STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BY   H.  0-  HOUGHTON. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 
MAY  1  ^  1933 


umyLt^Mit  Of 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

No  Sorrow  There,   _  5 

No  Night  There,   9 

No  More  Curse,   13 

No  More  Death,   17 

No  Temple  There,   21 

The  Open  Gates,   25 

The  Holy  Service,   29 

The  Unceasing  Song,   33 

The  Beatific  Vision,   37 

The  Shining  Mark,   41 

The  Great  Multitude,   45 

The  White  Robes,   49 

The  Palms  of  Victory,   53 

The  City's  Glory,   57 

The  City's  Light,   gl 

The  Twelve  Foundations,   65 

The  Crystal  Sea,   69 

The  Emerald  Kainbow,   73 

The  Seven  Lamps,   77 


8349  f  3 


iv  CONTENTS. 

Page 

The  Tabernacle  over  them,   81 

The  Eoyal  Banquet,     85 

The  River  of  Life,   89 

The  Tree  of  Life,   93 

The  Crown  of  Life,   97 

The  Hidden  Manna,  101 

The  White  Stone  and  the  New  Name, ...105 

The  Morning  Star,  109 

The  Pillar  in  the  Temple,  113 

The  Inscriptions  on  the  Pillar,  117 

The  Seat  on  the  Throne,  121 

KiCHEs  OF  Glory,  125 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


^0  Qoxvom  ®l)£r€. 


"  Neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  nor  pain."  —  Rev.  xxi.  4. 


OD,"  says  Augustine,  "  had   one  Son 


without  sin  ;  He  has  had  no  son  with- 
out sorrow." 

'  Look  back  on  the  way  by  which  God  has 
led  thee,  O  traveler  to  Zion !  through  the 
wilderness.  If  sometimes  thou  hast  walked 
in  sunshine,  and  with  the  free  elastic  step  of 
hope  and  joy,  how  often,  how  quickly,  have 
clouds  gathered  above  thee,  and  left  thee  to 
go  onward  in  heaviness  and  gloom!  Thou 
hast  had  to  cleave  thy  way  through  a  great 
fight  of  afflictions."  The  Man  of  Sorrows  " 
has  marked  thee  with  the  sim  of  sufferinp;. 
He  has  made  thee  feel  the  weight  and  sharp- 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


ness  of  the  spiritual  cross.  And  how  often 
has  it  been  from  the  red  letters  of  thy  trial 
that  thou  hast  slowly  deciphered  the  new 
name,  ''Son?" 

Would  a  Christian  be  without  that  chas- 
tisement whereof  all  the  children  "  are  par- 
takers ?  "  Would  that  be  gain  which  made 
him  an  outcast  and  strano;er?  Has  he  not 
seen  affliction  sealed  and  bound  up  with  the 
blessings  of  the  covenant?  learned  how 
great  a  privilege  it  is  to  hear  the  Father's 
graver  voice,  and  feel  his  correcting  hand  ? 

O  blessed  affliction,  who  deserves  thee ! 
Not  every  one  attains  to  the  great  preferment 
of  trial.  For  the  iron  chain  of  suffering 
links  with  the  golden  chain  of  glory.  Not 
only  is  it  suffering,  then  glory  ;  —  but  suffer- 
ing, therefore  glory.  ''  This  light  affliction 
worketh  a  weight  of  glory."  These  are  the 
rough  steps  by  which  faith  climbs  upward 
to  the  throne. 

Why  then  art  thou  filled  with  vexing 
[     thoughts?    Look  forward  to  the  end,  when 

i  


NO  SORROW  THERE. 


patience  shall  have  "  its  perfect  work,"  and 
witness-bearing,  in  this  temptation,  its  bright 
reward. 

The  toilsome  stages  of  thy  journey  end 
on  the  border  of  the  better  country.  No 
sorrow,  no  crying,  no  pain  are  there !  No 
anguish  of  temptation,  no  shrinkings  of  fear, 
no  tears  of  penitence,  no  agony  of  prayer. 
The  cross  is  lifted  off.  The  bitter  cup  is 
taken  from  thee.  The  trenching  and  the 
pruning  are  over,  and  on  every  branch  of 
the  tree  which  felt  the  knife,  cluster  the 
peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness,"  the  pleas- 
ant grapes  of  the  vineyard  of  God.  There 
we  are  past  the  preface  and  first  pages  of  the 
covenant,  which  teach  us  what  the  discipline 
of  sonship  is.  We  are  now  in  the  heart  and 
core  of  its  blessings,  knowing  how  glorious 
are  the  privileges  of  sonship,  how  unspeak- 
able its  joys.  We  shall  cry  out  no  more  for 
sore  bereavement  or  besetting  sin.  We  shall 
watch  no  more  against  an  enemy,  *  nor  see 
some  evil  shadow  lurk  in  every  pleasure. 


8 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


and  feel  it  steal  upon  our  sleep.  Our 
Father's  hand  has  wiped  away  our  tears. 
The  Saviour's  voice  says,  Weep  not,  the 
days  of  thy  mourning  are  ended !  "  And 
the  thought  of  past  grief  and  trouble  will 
come  to  us  only  to  sweeten  every  moment  of 
our  rest.  For  sin,  our  deepest  sorrow,  comes 
not  there.  There,  O  Christian !  "  the  evil 
heart  of  unbelief"  throbs  no  more,  and  the 
poisoned  garment  of  the  flesh  has  fallen  from 
thee  for  ever. 

It  will  be  thy  blessedness  there  to  think 
thou  hast  borne  pain  and  trial  for  thy 
Lord.  For  every  wound  of  thy  warfare,  for 
every  talent  of  thy  service,  thy  Lord  will 
say  Well  done  !  "  For  there  the  martyr, 
who  had  the  baptism  of  blood,  stands  next 
the  Prince  of  Sufferers  —  Him,  who  thinks 
the  crown  of  thorns  not  the  least  among  his 
"  many  crowns." 

Let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us, 
looking  unto  Jesus  ;  who,  for  the  joy  that  was 
Bet  before  him,  endured  the  cross.'* 
Heb.  xii.  1,  2. 


3^0  Ntgljt  (illjere. 

"  There  shall  be  no  night  there."  —  Rev.  xxii.  5. 

'jnVENING  and  morning  make  up  the 
days  of  Earth  —  dark  and  bright  stripes 
woven  alternate  and  unceasing  in  the  swiftly 
lengthening  web  of  Time.  Our  changeful 
lives  are  like  intricate  devices  traced  upon 
that  checkered  Avoof.  They  run  out  and 
grow  to  their  completeness  through  days  of 
sunshine  or  of  shadow.  But  no  dusky  veil 
is  drawn  over  the  clear  sky  of  Heaven  —  no 
wandering  film  or  vapor  stains  the  long 
bright  day  of  Eternity.  Here,  amidst  our 
toil,  our  warfare,  and  weariness,  we  need 
niglit  with  its  soft  and  quiet  slumber.  The 
waste  of  the  day  must  be  repaired  by  the 
still  repose  of  night,  and  the  spirit  bathed  in 
dews  of  forgetfulness,  to  be  refreshed  for  the 
morrow's  work.    So  each  day  is  shut  up  and 


10 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


shrouded  in  its  little  grave  of  darkness,  as 
our  whole  broad  life  of  threescore  years  and 
ten  contracts  at  last  into  the  narrow  house. 

But  in  the  life  of  Heaven  there  are  no 
wasted  powers,  no  flagging  energies,  no 
weariness,  and  no  slumber.  Euch  wor- 
shiper keeps  an  everlasting  vigil  of  adoration 
before  the  throne.  No  bell  rin2:s  the  hour 
of  prayer.  No  twilight  star  kindles  its  sweet 
signal  for  Earth's  evening  hymn,  but  the 
heart  times  its  happy  thoughts  to  the  grand 
movement  of  Heaven's  unresting  service. 
There,  in  silent  watchfulness,  or  genial  com- 
munion, or  serene  activity,  it  breathes  the 
free,  pure,  bracing  element  of  a  sinless  being. 

There  is  no  interruption  there,  —  no  sor- 
rowful partings  —  no  reluctant  severance  of 
pleasant  fellowships  —  no  shutting  up  of 
sweet  and  holy  chapters  of  life,  with  "  Arise, 
let  us  go  hence."  In  the  Father's  house 
friend  has  never  said  to  friend,  "  farewell !  " 
There  it  is  no  more  expedient"  that  Christ 
should  be  away.    The  Son  is  in  the  house 


NO  NIGHT  THERE.  11 

for  ever,  and  the  Comforter  also  abides  for 
ever. 

There  are  no  dreams  there  —  no  blank 
hours  in  which  the  spirit  roves  through  a 
land  of  shadows,  and  mocks  itself  with  its 
shapeless  fancies,  and  gropes  after  that  which 
it  cannot  find.  For  that  is  the  land  of 
purged  vision,  and  of  blest  realities  —  all 
that  the  mind  can  grasp,  the  heart  rest  in, 
and  the  soul  take  to  itself  as  an  heritage  for 
ever.    "  In  Thy  light  shall  we  see  light." 

Here,  O  Christian  !  thou  often  walkest  in 
darkness  and  hast  no  light.  Sin  separates 
between  thee  and  God.  Unbelief,  like  a 
thick  cloud,  hides  His  face  from  thee.  Thou 
must  go  by  a  dark  way  into  the  dark  valley. 
But  there  Sin  and  Death  have  passed  away, 
and  drawn  their  shadow  —  darkness  —  after 
them.  The  briMit  and  mornino;  Star " 
now  shinetli  in  its  strength.  Nor  is  there 
one  lonely  place  unillumined  by  its  glances, 
not  one  lowly  heart  uncheered  by  its  smile. 
Hast  thou  watched  with  the  Saviour  one 


12 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


hour  of  the  night  in  Gethsemane?  Or, 
when  tliou  shouldst  have  watched,  hast  thou 
slept  for  sorrow  ?  There  thou  shalt  awake 
and  walk  with  him  in  sweet  companionship 
for  ever.  "  The  day  breaks,  and  the  shadows 
flee  away,"  and  thou,  my  soul,  art  with  thy 
Saviour  and  thy  God  alone,  as  if  in  the  uni- 
verse there  were  none  besides  —  yet  in  a 
society  where  all  are  like  him,  and  all  love 
him,  and  all  are  altogether  lovely. 

"  The  light  of  the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  sun,  and 
the  light  of  the  sun  seven-fold,  as  the  light  of  seven 
days,  in  the  day  that  the  Lord  bindeth  up  the 
breach  of  his  people,  and  healeth  the 
stroke  of  their  wound." — 
Isaiah  xxx.  26. 


5^0  Moxt  (Huree. 


"  There  shall  be  no  more  curse."  — Rev.  xxii.  3. 


HAT  makes  the  world  a  land  of  exile 


to  him  who  follows  Christ  ?  What 
gives  him  the  heart  of  a  stranger  in  passing 
through  it  ?  What  but  -the  curse  of  sin  that 
overshadows  it  —  the  burden  of  sin  he  bears 
—  knowino;  that  he  can  not  for  ever  lav  it 
down,  till  he  has  passed  into  the  land  of 
holiness  and  rest. 

How  different  was  it  once !  Then  Earth 
was  the  abode  of  purity  —  the  home  of  all 
that  was  blessed  and  lovely  —  a  suburb  of 
the  Celestial  City  —  a  gate  of  the  Temple 
tliat  mio-ht  be  called  "  Beautiful,"  throuo-h 
which  gleams  came  from  the  great  glory 
Avithin,  and  breathings  of  angels'  songs. 
But  Earth,  O  man  !  was  cursed  "  for  thee. 
Wherever  thou  goest,  this  curse  has  left  its 


14  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. - 

black  and  bitter  trace.  Beneath  thee — in 
every  worm  that  writhes,  and  thorn  that 
stings.  Around  thee  —  in  every  leaf  that 
falls,  and  flower  that  fades.  About  thee  — 
in  every  storm  that  darkens  heaven,  and 
vapor  that  breathes  pestilence  and  death. 
Beside  thee  —  in  every  form  of  suffering 
and  sorrow.  Within  thee  — in  the  "  body 
of  sin  "  which  clings  to  thee  and  drags  down 
thy  spirit,  and  lies  like  a  weight  upon  the 
springs  of  life.  Listen,  and  thou  wilt  hear 
the  wail  of  creation  "  groaning  and  travail- 
ing in  pain  "  —  the  creature  made  subject " 
to  change  and  decay,  and  mourning  in  sack- 
cloth, ever  since  man,  its  prince  and  ruler, 
went  into  exile  and  slavery.  Look,  and  thou 
wilt  see  the  "  flying  roll "  of  curses  every- 
where unfolded  —  filled,  like  the  proph- 
et's, with  lamentations,  and  mourning,  and 
woe."  But  that  curse  will  not  follow  thee 
into  the  land  whither  thou  goest.  Thou 
shalt  dwell  in  a  better  paradise  than  Adam, 
for  the  serpent  crept  into  Eden  —  in  a  better 


NO  MORE  CURSE. 


15 


inheritance  than  the  earthly  Canaan,  for  sin 
entered  there.  No  evil  mist  will  darken  the 
brightness  of  the  sky  of  heaven.  No  ser- 
pent-trail will  sully  one  of  its  unwithering 
flowers.  No  lingering  vestige  of  corruption 
will  alarm  thee* — no  breath  of  temptation 
ruffle  the  serenity  of  thy  sinless  rest. 

How  often  here,  on  earth,  has  that  loud 
and  bitter  cry  issued  from  the  holiest  lips, 
"  Oh,  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  sliall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  But 
there  no  groan  shall  be  heard,  no  sorrowful 
complaint  —  but  the  everlasting  song,  "  Who 
shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  " 

And,  if  lying  under  this  ban  of  sin,  this 
earth  still  wears  such  loveliness  —  if  the 
desert  can  bloom  and  brighten  under  the 
sunshine  of  the  Christian's  hope  —  what  a 
vision  of  beauty,  what  a  mystery  of  holy 
rapture  will  be  his,  when  he  is  in  the  land 
whence  every  dark  disturbing  element  has 
been  withdrawn  —  in  "  the  new  heavens  and 
new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 


16 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


Strive,  then,  against  sin ;  and  while  thou 
strivest,  let  the  painfulness  of  warfare  endear 
the  thought  of  thy  eternal  home. 

Follow  holiness,  and  while  thou  followest 
it,  look  forward  to  the  blessed  certainty  that 
awaits  thee  —  for  He  is  faithful  that  hath 
promised."  Think  of  the  stainless  vestment 
that  will  be  put  on  thee  —  emblem  of  the 
sinless  purity  that  dwells  for  ever  in  the 
soul  —  the  glory  and  the  beauty  that  are 
within. 

"  I  will  greatly  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  my  soul  shall  be  joyful 
in  my  God;  for  he  hath  clothed  me  with  the 
garments  of  salvation,  he  hath  covered 
me  with  the  robe  of  right- 
eousness."— Is.  Ixi.  10. 


No  Moxt  Hmtl). 

"  There  shall  be  no  more  death."  —  Rev.  xxi.  4. 

TTOW  often  does  the  thought  of  the 
mysterious  change  that  awaits  him, 
cast  gloom  and  heaviness  over  the  Christian's 
mind !  Who  can  watch  the  blight,  and 
withering,  and  defacement  of  that  which 
was  once  so  fair,  —  who  has  seen  the  suf- 
fering, the  anguish,  the  unknown  pang  in 
w^hich  the  spirit  tears  itself  from  its  tene- 
ment, and  rends  the  earthly  shroud,  —  and 
not  felt  that  it  is  a  bitter  tribute  we  must 
pay  ere  we  pass  into  endless  life  and  free- 
dom ? 

How  often  have  the  mists,  arising  from  the 
gloomy  valley  through  w^hich  we  must  go, 
hidden  from  our  eyes  the  view  of  the  better 
land  beyond!  Nor,  pass  where  we  may, 
can  we  escape  the  sense  of  this  dread  pres- 

2 


18 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


ence,  this  haunting  mystery.  Everywhere 
we  see  Death  reign.  Since  Abel's  grave 
was  dio;o;ed  under  the  wall  of  Eden,  where 
has  the  King  of  Terrors  not  left  his  foot- 
prints ?  On  every  rod  of  earth  he  has 
reared  some  ghastly  memorial,  —  in  every 
market-place  proclaimed  his  title,  —  on  every 
wall  set  up  his  banners,  —  in  every  garden 
hewn  out  a  sepulcher.  Earth  still  holds  a 
place  where  the  Lord  lay."  Within  each 
of  us  those  seeds  are  sown  which  must  lay 
these  bodies  in  the  dust. 

And  these  are  the  bitter  and  poisonous 
fruits  of  sin.  Death  came  by  Sin.  Sin 
mined  the  citadel,  and  Death  stormed  it. 
And  because  Sin  has  struck  its  roots  into 
his  nature,  and  coiled  itself  round  every 
fiber  of  his  being,  even  the  heir  of  spiritual 
life  must  be  through  all  his  earthly  days  the 
bearer  of  a    body  of  death." 

But  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 
I  have  seen  his  empty  grave,  and  the  folded 
shroud.    I  know  that  he  was  dead  and  is 


NO  MORE  DEATH.  19 

alive ;  that  dying,  he  destroyed  him  that 
had  the  power  of  death,"  and  that  living, 
he  will  be  "  the  Resurrection  and  Life "  to 
me  !  At  his  girdle  hang  the  keys  of  Hell 
and  Death."  And  when  the  believer  falls 
asleep,  a  voice  from  heaven  speaks  the  words 
heard  of  old  among  the  tombs  of  Bethany, 
"  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die." 

Blessed  assurance !  hope  full  of  immortal- 
ity!  I  shall  see  his  face ;  him  and  not 
another,  in  the  land  where  death  comes  no 
more.  There  the  fear,  the  foreboding,  the 
gloom,  the  mystery  shall  have  passed  away. 
For  sin  can  not  enter  there ;  and  with  sin, 
death  has  perished,  and  every  evil  thing  that 
was  here  a  type  and  shadow  of  death. 

And  there  the  heritage  of  eternal  life  will 
be  mine.  The  crown  of  life  will  be  mine. 
Through  endless  ages  stretching  before  me 
in  clear  bright  prospect,  I  shall  know  that 
there  will  be  no  change,  no  parting,  no  de- 


20  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

cay,  no  death,  because  no  sin.  All  through 
that  love,  whose  first  step  was  from  the 
throne  to  Calvary ;  and  the  next,  from  Cal- 
vary to  the  grave. 

The  stone  is  rolled  aw^ay  from  the  sepul- 
cher  of  all  who  beheve.  My  Saviour  has 
left  the  prints  of  his  feet  in  the  dark  valley, 
from  end  to  end,  and  made  it  the  highway 
to  the  everlastino;  kino;dom.  Let  me  wait 
prayerfully,  and  work  dihgently  "  all  the 
days  of  my  appointed  time."  And  when 
this  frail  tent  of  earth  loosens,  and  shrinks, 
and  falls,  may  I  pass  forth  from  it,  as  Peter 
from  his  prison,  wakened  by  an  angel,  and 
find  myself  standing  in  a  trance  of  joy  on 
the  street  of  the  new  Jerusalem! 

"  For  we  know,  that,  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle 
were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  an 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens."  — 
2  Cor.  V.  1. 


  ><^<^^<^^<^<^<^<^ »»»»»»» 


5^0  (li:^mpk  ^\)tvt. 

"  I  saw  no  temple  therein.'*  —  Rev.  xxi.  22. 

TT  was  the  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down 
out  of  heaven  from  God,"  with  its  girdle 
of  jasper  walls,  and  its  coronal  of  glittering 
towers,  that  the  apostle  saw  from  the  Mount 
of  Vision.  He  thought  of  his  own  Jeru- 
salem, and  of  the  streets  where  he  had 
walked  with  his  Lord,  and  the  temple  where 
he  had  heard  his  voice ;  and  the  eye  of  the 
confessor  of  Patmos,  long  separated  from  his 
brethren,  with  his  calendar  of  silent  Sab- 
baths notched  week  after  week  in  an  exile's 
memory,  would  wander  over  the  mass  of  ■ 
stately  buildings  to  mark  the  temple,  up- 
lifted in  that  element  of  purple  clearness. 
If  so  fair  the  city,  how  glorious  must  be  the 
shrine ! 

He  sees    no  temple  therein  "  —  no  sacred 


22 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


and  guarded  spot  —  no  visible  center  and 
crowning  point  of  glory.  There  is  no  place 
in  all  that  shining  city  of  God  "  four  square" 
and  compact  together,"  of  which  it  might 
be  said,  Here  stand  and  worship  with  un- 
sandaled  feet,  for  this  is  holy  ground !  For 
what  he  sees  is  a  city,  and  a  temple  likewise 
—  a  city  wherein  each  citizen  is  a  king  — 
a  temple  wherein  each  worshiper  is  an  an- 
ointed priest  —  a  holy  city,  at  once  the 
home  and  sanctuary  of  the  royal  priesthood 
of  Eternity.  How  must  he,  who  had  pray- 
ed toward  Jerusalem,  have  longed  to  pass 
through  urates  each  called  "  Beautiful,"  — 
and  take  part  in  that  high  office  of  devotion  ; 
to  have  each  day  a  Lord's  Day  with  its  one 
chanoeless  vision  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

How  should  it  cheer  the  Christian's  spirit, 
when  in  sickness,  or  lonesomeness,  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  sanctuary,  or  worshiping  in 
these  lower  courts  with  a  cold  wandering 
heart,  that  yet  a  little  while,  and  that  temple 
will  be  his  dwelling-place,  and  all  his  being 


NO  TEMPLE  THERE. 


23 


consecrated  to  holy  service  and  priestly  min- 
istration. If  "  one  day  in  his  courts  is  bet- 
ter than  a  thousand,"  wliat  will  a  thousand 
be  in  the  land  where  all  time  shrinks  to  a 
twinkling  point,  and  the  lifetime  of  a  w^orld 
marks  not  a  hair-breadth  on  the  dial  ? 

Once  there  he  dwells  for  ever  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  in  the  love  of  Christ, 
and  in  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  in  the  fellowship  of  the  saints.  "  For 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are 
the  temple  of  it."  No  more  pilgrimage,  for 
"  they  are  now  before  the  throne  of  God." 
No  silent  Sabbaths,  for  day  and  night  they 
praise  him.  No  check  and  intermission  to 
holy  worship,  for  they  "  dwell  in  the  secret 
place  of  the  Most  High."  No  ordinances, 
no  imagery,  no  sacraments,  no  hours  of 
prayer,  no  written  word,  for  Christ  standeth 
no  more  "  behind  the  lattice-work"  of  sym- 
bolism, but  "  looketh  forth  clear  as  the  sun  " 
and  showeth  himself  "  face  to  face."  For 
ordinances,  they  have  perpetual  communion ; 


24 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


for  sacraments,  open  vision ;  for  hours  of 
prayer,  an  unceasing  festival  of  praise ;  for 
a  witnessing  Spirit,  a  manifested  Saviour ; 
for  tlie  written  oracles,  the  living  voice. 

The  Lord's  Prayer  of  Eternity  is  fulfilled, 
as  all  are  gathered  into  the  temple  of  his 
spiritual  presence,  to  go  out  no  more. 

"  That  they  all  may  be  one ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and 
I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us.    I  in 
them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may 
be  made  perfect  in  one." — 
John  xvii.  21,  23. 


"  The  gates  of  it  shall  not  be  shut."  —  Rev.  xxi.  25. 

n^HINE  eyes  shall  see  Jerusalem  a  quiet 
habitation."  Here  the  Christian  dwells 
as  in  a  guarded  fortress,  a  beleaguered  city, 
with  enemies  around  him,  exposed  to  con- 
tinual alarms.  Armed  and  vigilant,  he  must 
stand  upon  his  guard.  He  must  watch  against 
foes  without,  who  never  slumber ;  and  watch 
as  sleeplessly  against  foes  within.  The  "  evil 
heart  of  unbelief"  is  as  a  traitor  within  the 
citadel.  But  there,  in  the  better  country,  he 
dwells  in  a  "  peaceable  habitation,  and  in  a 
sure  dwelling,  and  in  a  quiet  resting-place." 

There  is  neither  adversary,  nor  evil  occur- 
rent."  He  has  "  finished  his  course  ;  he  has 
fought  the  fight ;  he  has  kept  the  faith." 
He  has  rendered  up  his  armor,  his  watch- 
word, his  trust,  unto  God.    He  rests  in  God, 


26  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

and  the  everlasting  arms  "  are  around  him, 
to  keep  him  from  fear  of  evil. 

The  heavenly  city  has  gates  and  walls  for 
beauty,  not  security.  Violence  shall  no 
more  be  heard  in  thy  land ;  wasting,  nor  de- 
struction within  thy  borders  ;  but  thou  shalt 
call  thy  walls  Salvation,  and  thy  gates. 
Praise."  The  glory  of  the  Lord  is  its  de- 
fense. It  needs  no  battlement,  and  no  bra- 
zen gate.  It  is  open,  but  guarded  as  the 
camp  of  the  chosen  tribes  in  the  desert,  when 
the  fiery  pillar  shone  upon  the  tents  of  Ja- 
cob, —  as  the  wide  border  of  Canaan,  along 
which  angels  stood  sentinels,  during  the  keep- 
ing of  the  solemn  feasts. 

Here,  walking  amidst  thick-sown  perils, 
breathing  a  poisoned  air,  and  tried  by  a 
treacherous  heart,  how  often  does  the  be- 
liever feel  as  if  he  walked  in  chains.  He  is 
laden  with  a  heavy  burden,  and  his  spirit  is 
often  crushed  in  the  dust  by  grievous  bond- 
age. Yet  even  now,  looking  unto  Jesus," 
with  what  gladness  he  feels  the  darkness,  the 


THE  OPEN  GATES. 


27 


weight,  the  thralldom,  at  times  removed;  and 
learns,  that  when  he  walks  most  "  under  law 
to  Christ,"  he  walks  most  "  at  liberty." 

But  what  a  blessed  sense  of  freedom,  and 
enlargement,  and  stirring  energy,  will  be  his 
in  the  Jerusalem  above!  "The  gates  are 
never  sliut."  There,  like  a  trusted  child,  he 
can  roam  through  all  the  chambers  of  his 
Father's  dwelling,  through  the  fair  lands  and 
gardens  of  his  heritage.  Like  tlie  heir  of  a 
royal  line,  he  can  visit  at  will  all  the  cities 
and  provinces  of  the  kingdom.  No  restraint 
shackles  the  movements  of  his  freeborn 
spirit.  No  fear  trammels  his  light  step.  No 
doubt  casts  a  fleeting  stain  on  the  clear  mir- 
ror of  his  soul,  to  dim  the  image  of  his  lov- 
ing Father.  He  is  free  to  all  the  worlds  of 
his  sovereignty,  the  starry  mansions  of  his 
Father's  house ;  free  to  all  the  realms  of  his 
spiritual  kingdom.  The  bright  name  on 
his  forehead"  opens  to  him  all  its  glories 
and  resources.  The  principalities  of  heaven 
honor  the  blood-bought  privilege  of  the  heir 


28 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


of  salvation.  He  shall  ''go  in  and  out,"  and 
wherever  he  goes,  find  nurture  for  his  fer- 
vent powers,  and  glean  materials  for  ador- 
ing contemplation.  For  all  that  w^as  pure, 
and  lovely,  and  excellent  on  earth,  is  gath- 
ered there.  "  The  kings  of  the  earth 
have  brought  their  glory  and  honor  to  it." 
Prophets  are  there.  Martyrs  are  there. 
Apostles  are  there.  Angels  are  there. 
Christ  is  there.    God  is  there. 

"  Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the 
living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innu- 
merable company  of  angels,  to  the  general  as- 
sembly and  church  of  the  first-born,  which 
are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect,  and 
to  Jesus  the  mediator  of 
the  new  covenant." 
Heb.  xii.  22-24. 


"  They  serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple.'* — 
Rev.  vii.  15. 

"DLESSED  are  they  that  dwell  in  Thy 
house :  they  will  be  still  praising  Thee." 
Day  and  night  (as  we  speak  on  earth,  for 
"  there  is  no  night  there through  the 
bright  unbroken  watches  of  eternity,  they 
serve  God  in  his  temple.  They  sit  not  now 
by  the  gate ;  they  stand  not  in  the  porches ; 
they  minister  in  the  outer  court  no  more. 
They  are  within  the  vail,  in  the  presence  of 
the  Most  High,  swinging  the  golden  censer, 
and  striking  the  full-toned  harp  of  their 
praises. 

If,  here  on  earth,  one  day  in  His  courts 
was  better  than  a  thousand,  what  will  it  be 
when  God's  waiting  saints  are  called  to  the 
great  gathering  and  festival  in  the  heavens  ? 


30  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

"As  the  days  of  a  tree,  are  the  days  of  my 
people,  and  mine  elect  shall  long  enjoy  the 
work  of  their  hands."  When  He  to  whom 
a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day  —  a  thou- 
sand cycles  a  fleeting  second  of  eternity  — 
says  "  long,"  he  sets  the  seal  and  consecra- 
tion of  his  own  infinite  being  upon  their 
blessedness. 

Here  we  can  not,  if  we  would,  be  con- 
stantly employed  in  the  service  of  God. 
Our  bodies  faint  through  weariness ;  our 
minds  flag  and  fail  in  a  prolonged  concentra- 
tion of  their  powers.  And  how  many  evil 
influences  are  at  work  within  our  souls  to 
distract  and  overpower  them !  How  many 
worldly  thoughts  and  anxieties  flutter  over 
our  minds  at  the  still  hour  of  devotion,  or  in 
the  house  of  God,  like  the  birds  descending 
on  Abraham's  sacrifice ! 

But  how  far  otherwise  will  it  be  when  we 
enter  on  the  keeping  of  that  Sabbath  to 
which  this  mortal  life  is  but  the  "  evening  of 
preparation  "  !    Then,  there  will  be  no  Ian- 


THE  HOLY  SERVICE. 


31 


guishing  nor  faintness,  —  no  inertness  and  no 
cessation,  —  no  heart  wandering  after  vanity, 
no  soul  cleaving  to  the  dust;  but  a  holy 
service  of  God,  in  which  the  spirit  will  find 
at  once  its  exercise  and  its  refreshment. 
There  the  air  it  breathes,  the  pure  element 
of  light  in  which  it  lives,  will  minister 
strength  and  alacrity  to  its  swift  elastic 
powers.  It  will  soar  to  heights  of  holy  con- 
templation, balancing  itself  on  calm  ethereal 
wings,  and  floating  on  in  unutterable  joy. 
"  In  waiting  on  the  Lord  it  will  renew  (or 
transform^  its  strength,"  passing  by  a  swift 
ascension  into  higher  circles  of  service,  as  it 
dilates  from  within  to  larger  capacities  of 
blessedness. 

What  the  nature  of  these  employments 
may  be,  we  know  not.  We  know  they  will 
be  worthy  of  spiritual  bodies  and  sinless 
minds.  How  gladly  will  they  see  the  secret 
course  of  Providence  unveiled,  the  bright 
devices  of  that  plan  which  seemed  here  so 
raveled  and  perplexing  !    How  intently  will 


32 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


they  watch  the  unfolding  mystery  of  grace, 
and  tell  to  prmcipalities  and  powers  what  it 
is  to  feel  and  return  a  Saviour's  love !  With 
what  rapture  gaze  on  the  flashing  rays  of 
the  "  many-colored  wisdom  of  God,"  or  the 
softened  splendor  of  his  attributes  in  the 
rainbow  like  an  emerald  round  the  throne ! 
A  ceaseless  but  ever-varied  course  of  sacred 
services,  in  which  their  being  will  glide  on 
from  joy  to  joy,  and  their  natures  advance 
from  strength  to  strength,  and  the  glorified 
intelligence  climb  ever  up  from  round  to  j 
round  of  that  shining  ladder  which  rests  its 
foot  on  the  marble  pavement,  and  hides  its 
summit  in  light  ineffable ! 

"  Go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be :  for  thou  shalt  rest,  and 
stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days."  — 
Daniel  xii.  13. 


J 


Sllje  Mnaasing  Song. 

"  They  sing  the  song  of  Moses,  and  of  the  Lamb."  — 
Rev.  XV.  3. 

^HEY  stand  on  that  calm  crj'-stal  sea,  a 
white-robed  company,  gathered  safe  into 
the  Father's  house.  No  enemy  can  vex 
them  now ;  the  rough  winds  of  their  trial 
blow  no  more  for  ever.  They  stand  with 
peace  in  their  hearts,  with  light  upon  their 
faces,  and  thanksgiving  on  their  lips.  For 
there  is  not  one  there  who  can  not  speak  of  a 
great  danger  and  a  great  deliverance,  of  a 
hard  warfare  and  a  glorious  victory. 

Each  one  holds  a  golden  harp.  Each 
voice  sings  to  the  music  of  these  heavenly 
instruments,  Great  and  marvelous  are 
Thy  works.  Lord  God  Almighty ;  just  and 
true  are  thy  ways,  thou  King  of  saints." 
And  as  he  sings,  he  thinks  of  the  "  great 

3 


34 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


works  "  that  have  been  done  for  him,  of  the 
true  ways "  by  which  he  has  been  led 
through  the  wilderness  to  his  home. 

Let  these  sweet  consenting  voices  —  these 
bursts  and  gushes  of  ethereal  melody— reach 
thy  heart,  O  soldier  of  the  cross,  and 
breathe  a  fresh  spirit  into  thy  holy  warfare ! 
What  thou  art,  these  heavenly  singers  once 
were.  What  they  are,  thou,  when  these 
troublous  times  are  over,  wilt  be.  As  they 
sing  of  trial  and  victory,  so  wilt  thou,  when 
thou  takest  off  thine  armor  and  puttest  on 
thy  festal  garments.  Thou  too  wilt  strike 
thy  harp  in  symphony  with  their  ringing 
halleluiahs.  Thy  voice  will  blend  with  the 
exulting  song  of  praise  to  Him  who  loved 
thee  and  washed  thee  from  thy  sin  —  the 
song  which  angels  can  not  sing,  and  to  which 
they  listen  as  a  strain  of  thanksgiving  be- 
yond their  powers. 

Think  then,  when  thou  art  in  the  storm 
of  adversity,  where  deep  calleth  unto 
deep,"  how  gladly  thou  wilt  sing  the  song 


THE  UNCEASING  SONG.  35 

of  Moses  on  the  other  side.  Thy  foes  may 
pursue  thee,  but  the  Lord  fights  for  thee. 
The  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  is  between  thee 
and  them.  The  Saviour's  voice  whispers  in 
the  darkness,  When  thou  passest  through 
the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee."  Thou 
must  be  baptized  with  his  baptism  of  trial 
"  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea."  He  will 
compass  thee  about,"  even  here,  "  with 
songs  of  deliverance;"  and  there,  the  mem- 
ory of  thy  peril  and  thy  terror  will  give 
more  fullness  and  fervor  to  thy  psalm  of 
triumph. 

And  will  not  one  Name  be  uppermost  in 
thy  praises  —  his,  who  loved  thee,  and  died 
for  thee,  and  lives  for  thee,  and  guides  thee 
with  a  gentle  hand  to  thy  home,  and  com- 
forts thee  with  the  sweet  words  of  his  pro- 
mises by  the  way  ? 

Not  in  thine  own  might  and  power,  but  in 
his,  wilt  thou  be  kept  from  falling,  and  up- 
holden  to  the  end.  In  his  strength  thou 
art  to  strive ;  in  his  love  to  obey ;  in  his 


36  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

faithfulness  to  trust  that  thou  wilt  be  kept 
"faithful  unto  death." 

As  thou  goest  through  the  wilderness, 
"  lean  "  on  him.  As  thou  runnest  the  race, 
"  look  "  to  him.  Think  of  the  great  cloud 
of  witnesses  "  that  compass  thee  about,  and 
let  their  songs  and  thanksgivings  tell  thee 
that  they  so  looked  and  trusted  and  over- 
came. By  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  the 
word  of  their  testimony,"  they  stood  fast  in 
the  evil  day,  and  have  won  the  crown  of 
life.    Therefore  they  sing  — 

"  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power  and 
riches  and  wisdom  and  strength  and  honor 
and  glory  and  blessing."  — 
Rev.  V.  12. 


"  The}^  shall  see  his  face."  —  Rev.  xxii.  4. 

rpHE  face  of  God!  the  brightness  of  that 
uncreated  glory  whereon  none  can  look 
and  live,  before  which  worshiping  angels 
veil  their  feces  with  their  wings." 

It  was  only  the  shadow  of  that  glory 
which  Moses  saw,  —  the  outer  folds,  the 
wavino;  skirts  and  fringes  of  the  light  in 
which  He  dwells,  —  what  the  blue  and 
purple  curtains  of  the  tabernacle  were  to 
the  luminous  Shekinah-cloud  within. 

What  a  mystery  of  blessedness  will  be 
the  heritage  of  the  redeemed  !  The  least  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  the 
mightiest  of  prophets.  To  each  it  will  be 
given  to  stand  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock," 
and  behold  the  light  of  that  transforming 
vision,  — the  clearness,  the  splendor  and  "  self- 


38  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

infolding  fire,"  pass  before  him.  Each  will 
hear  the  voice  that  proclaims  his  goodness 
along  the  ages  of  eternity. 

How  quickly  do  the  brightest  glimpses  we 
have  here  of  the  favor  of  God,  and  the  love 
of  Christ,  and  things  "  eternal  in  the  heav- 
ens," pass  away  !  The  bright  vision  grows 
dim  and  fades  from  us ;  or  rather,  our  weak 
sight  and  unstable  hearts  can  not  hold  it  long. 
Like  the  great  sheet  filled  with  living  forms 
let  down  before  Peter  in  his  trance,  it  is 
drawn  up  again  into  heaven. 

At  times  we  see  in  spiritual  things  a  glory 
and  beauty  which  things  around  us  do  not 
possess.  We  feel  attracted  and  uphfted  by 
them.  We  could  wish  to  build  a  tabernacle 
on  the  calm  bright  summits  from  which  we 
have  seen  the  land  that  is  very  far  off." 
But  the  elements  of  the  world  "  bring  us 
again  into  bondage."  The  earthly  over- 
shadows and  shuts  out  the  heavenly.  The 
evil  influences  that  set  so  strongly,  like  con- 
trary currents  in  the  soul,  gather  strength 


THE  BEATIFIC  VISION.  39 

again,  and  draw  away  our  tliouglits  and 
]ono:ino:s  into  lower  channels. 

But  there  we  shall  "  arise  and  walk  in  the 
licrht  of  the  Lord."  We  shall  see  his 
face."  In  his  glory  we  shall  behold  the 
fullness  and  consummation  of  his  grace. 
We  shall  rest  in  the  calm  assurance  of  his 
favor,  and  have  clearer  insight  into  the  ex- 
cellencies of  his  nature,  and  look  into  the 
deep  thoughts  of  the  infinite  mind. 

We  shall  see  the  face  of  Jesus ;  and 
thouD-h  nothinp;  more  were  told  us  of  heav- 
en's  glory,  this  would  be  enough.  It  was 
enouo;h  for  him  who  saw  the  visions  of  God. 
To  John  it  was  a  dearer  remembrance  that 
he  leaned  on  the  Saviour's  bosom,  than  that 
he  looked  through  the  door  opened  in  heaven, 
and  heard  those  harpings  and  sevenfold  hal- 
lelujahs. "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be ;  but  we  know  that  Avhen  he  shall 
appear,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall 
see  him  as  he  is." 

To  be  with  him,  for  ever,  whom  we  love ; 


40  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

to  see  that  face  radiant  with  grace,  which 
was  wet  with  Gethsemane's  sweat  of  blood ; 
that  brow,  on  which  are  "  mam^  crowns," 
wearing  the  mark  of  the  crown  of  thorns. 
Oh !  if  here  the  faint  shining  of  his  counte- 
nance gives  so  much  gladness,  what  will  the 
unclouded  brightness  of  it  be  ?  To  see  a 
hight  yet  unsealed,  a  breadth  yet  unmeas- 
ured, a  depth  yet  unsounded  in  his  love  — 
will  be  the  beatific  vision  and  endless  joy  of 
the  redeemed.  The  knowledge  of  a  "  love 
that  passeth  knowledge  "  is  the  Apocalypse 
of  Eternity. 

"  Now  we  see  through  a  glass,  darkl}';  but  then  face  to  face: 
now  I  know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I  know 
even  as  alsc  I  am  known."  — 
1  Cor.  xiii.  12. 


(Jilje  Sljining  Maxk. 

"  His  name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads."  —  Rev.  xxii.  4. 

T)ELOVED,  now  are  we  the  sons  of 
God,"  Thus  the  apostle  points  the 
behever's  eye  beyond  the  dark  and  troubled 
scenes  of  life  to  his  glorious  heritage  of  hopes, 
to  the  privileges  of  his  heavenly  birth. 

Here  there  is  no  outward  sign  to  strike 
the  world's  eye,  that  such  a  name  and  line- 
ao-e  are  his.  No  device  blazoned  on  shield 
or  banner,  no  jeweled  star  upon  the  breast, 
marks  out  the  nobility  of  heaven.  They 
are  princes  in  disguise,  as  was  their  Lord 
before  them.  "  Therefore  the  world  knoweth 
us  not,  because  it  knew  him  not."  And 
will  they  court  smiles  w^here  he  met  with 
frowns  ?  Will  they  think  it  strange  or  hard 
that  those  hands  will  not  weave  a  garland 
for  them  which  twisted  the  crown  of  thorns 


42 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


for  him  ?  Their  "  citizenship  is  in  heaven," 
and  no  earthly  parchment  or  royal  seal 
attests  it.  And  as  his  enemies  would  not 
see  in  the  Christian  apostle  the  citizen  of 
Rome,  the  world  can  not  see  in  the  simple 
guise  of  the  Christian,  "  walking  humbly 
with  his  God,"  one  who  is  free  to  the 
Jerusalem  that  is  above,"  ''a  citizen  of  no 
mean  city." 

But  the  day  is  coming  when  there  will  be 
a  "  manifestation  "  of  the  sons  of  God.  The 
mean  disguise  of  their  humiliation  will  be 
stripped  aside.  The  heirs  of  the  kingdom 
will  take  place  and  rank  after  their  long 
exile.  They  will  be  transfigured  as  beseems 
their  ancestry,  with  brightness  on  their  faces, 
and  their  Father's  name  in  their  foreheads. 
Each  will  bear  that  superscription,  and  re- 
flect that  image,  —  he  that  is  lowest  in  the 
kingdom,  as  well  as  he  who  is  highest.  One 
star  may  differ  from  another  star  in  glory, 
but  the  rays  of  each  will  hold  that  sacred 
cipher. 


THE  SHINING  MARK. 


43 


The  common  vessels  in  the  Lord's  house 
shall  be  like  "  the  golden  bowls  before  the 
altar,"  each  bearing  the  legend,  Holiness 
to  the  Lord."  For  in  the  brio-lit  name  on 
their  foreheads,  there  is  the  seal  of  their 
spiritual  purity,  the  token  of  their  Father's 
favor,  the  pledge  of  "  glory  and  honor  and 
immortality." 

Here  they  bear  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,"  not  in  visible  imprint,  not  in  fleshly 
wounds,  as  those  bleeding  marks  which 
have  been  fabled  of  visionaries  of  the  cloister. 
They  bear  them  in  chastened  affections,  in 
lowly  lives,  in  crucified  tempers  and  desires, 
in  Christ-like  meekness  and  gentleness." 
It  is  such  a  life  as  his  who  said,  The  world 
is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the  world," 
that  has  the  mark  of  the  spiritual  cross. 

But  then,  when  they  are  with  the  Lord, 
the  bridit  sio;n  of  their  hio-h  callino;  will  be 
clearly  seen.  The  outward  glory  will  be  in 
measure  as  the  inward  holiness.  The  name 
without  will  be  a  witnessing  index  to  the 


44  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

deep  and  blessed  experience  within,  of  a 
peace  with  God  "  which  "  passeth  under- 
standing." Nor  will  that  symbol  of  royal 
honor  and  priestly  consecration  ever  grow 
dim  or  fade  away.  "Be  ye  glad  and  rejoice 
for  ever  in  that  which  I  create ;  for  behold 
I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her 
people  a  joy." 

Each,  in  his  own  place  in  the  heavenly 
city,  will  be  one  of  its  perpetual  ornaments, 
"  for  glory  and  for  beauty."  Each,  in  tliat 
shining  seal  upon  his  forehead,  will  show  his 
oneness  with  Christ,  and  all  together  the 
completeness  of  the  family  of  which  he  is 
the  head.  For  "  on  him  shall  they  hang 
all  the  glory  of  his  Father's  house,"  and  he 
shall  bear  it  uninjured  and  untarnished  for 
ever. 

"  Thou  shalt  be  a  crown  of  glory  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
and  a  royal  diadem  in  the  hand  of  thy 
God."  —  Isaiah  Ixii.  '3. 


#r£at  JHuUitubc. 

"  A  great  multitude,  which  no  man  could  number."  — 
Rev.  vii.  9. 

TTOW  would  it  cheer  the  apostle,  one  of 
the  few  standard-bearers  of  the  faith, 
and  now  severed  from  the  communion  of  the 
saints,  to  behold  this  great  congregation  of 
worshipers,  to  hear  their  voices  blending 
round  the  throne  "  like  the  sound  of  many 
waters  J  " 

How  often  is  the  Christian's  mind  weighed 
down  with  heaviness,  when  separated  from 
his  brethren  in  sickness  or  solitude ;  or  when, 
in  the  common  intercourse  of  life,  he  finds 
few  to  sympathize  wath  his  sorrows  and 
hopes  !  Let  him  not  think  concerning  this 
trial,  that  any  "  strange  thing "  has  hap- 
pened to  him.    His  Master  was  alone ;  and 

as  he  was,  so  are  we  in  this  world."  Yet 


46  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

as  he  said,  not  alone,  because  the  Father 
is  with  me ; "  so  where  one  disciple  stands 
weeping  for  the  Lord,  or  two  walk  together 
and  speak  of  him,  does  he  come  to  revive 
their  drooping  hearts. 

Each  of  these  heavenly  worshipers  passed 
through  the  same  sorrowful  experience  on 
earth.  Each  had  to  ''fill  up "  his  own 
measure  of  ''  the  afflictions  of  Christ,"  that 
he  might  thus  be  made  conformable  unto 
his  death."  What  mysteries  of  spiritual 
trouble  did  these  hearts  once  shut  up  within 
them !  By  what  dark  and  strange  ways 
were  they  led ;  but  this  is  the  end,  —  "^There- 
fore  are  they  before  the  throne  of  God," 
Each  in  his  own  time  struggled  through  the 
mists  and  glooms  of  his  pilgrimage,  to  emerge 
at  last  into  the  shadowless  light  of  eternity. 

''  These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great 
tribulation."  The  first  human  spirit  that 
ever  ascended  there  left  its  body  bleeding 
upon  earth.  And  one  after  another,  those 
who   like    "  righteous   Abel "    have  been 


THE  GREAT  MULTITUDE.  47 


tried  and  found  faithful,  have  followed  him 
to  glory.    Each,  like  his  Lord,  has  been  a 

man  of  sorrows."  Not  an  eye  there  that 
has  not  wept,  or  looked  up  in  tearless 
anguish.  Not  a  heart  but  has  well-nigh 
broken  in  an  agony  of  prayer.  Not  a  spirit 
that  has  not  been  torn  with  deep  and  bitter 
wounds.  In  all  its  forms  of  sickness  or 
grief,  poverty  or  pain,  reproach  or  slighting, 
temptation  or  darkness,  or  deadly  trouble, 
affliction  has  pressed  upon  them.  Each  has 
borne  his  solitary  burden,  and  felt  that  his 
were  sorrows  wherewith  "  a  stranger  doth 
not  intermeddle." 

How  different  is  it  now !  Each,  purified 
by  suffering,  has  "come  to  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  and  an  innumerable  company  of 
angels,  and  the  general  assembly  and  church 
of  the  first-born,  and  to  God,  and  to  Jesus 
Christ."  How  different  their  view  of  trial, 
when  they  were  "  perplexed,  though  not 
despairing,  cast  down,  though  not  destroyed." 
Each  was  bitter  at  the  time,  but  it  has  left 


48 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


an  enduring  sweetness.  Each  prepared  them 
for  their  inheritance  and  rest.  Each  made 
heaven  more  welcome  when  it  came.  And 
now  they  are  all  assembled  there,  one  family 
in  Christ.  Called  "  from  every  nation  and 
kindred  and  people  and  tongue,"  —  they  are 
one  in  name,  one  in  speech,  one  in  worship, 
one  in  love. 

And  the  same  hand  that  upheld  them,  and 
brought  them  out  of  tribulation,  can  sustain 
thee,  and  deliver  thee  from  thine.  Thou 
hast  the  same  Saviour,  the  same  word  of 
promise :  — 


"  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation,  but  in  me  ye  have 
peace.    Be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome 
the  world."  —  John  xvi.  33. 


m)t  lllljite  Hobcs. 

"  Clothed  with  white  robes."  —  Rev.  vii.  9. 

TF  it  seem  strange  to  connect  the  thought 
of  "  great  tribulation "  with  that  con- 
course of  blessed  worshipers,  it  may  seem 
even  more  strange  to  think  that  theirs,  now 
a  state  of  saintly  purity,  was  once  a  state  of 
sin.  But  the  thought  is  not  strange  to  their 
minds.  They  have  not  forgotten,  they  have 
no  wish  to  forget,  what  they  were. 

They  could  not  be  ashamed  of  this  re- 
membrance without  being  ashamed  of  their 
Saviour's  love,  and  his  dying  anguish,  and 
the  blood  of  atonement.  If  upon  the  throne 
he  is  still  the  "  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain," 
they  can  not  beliold  him  without  the  thought, 
"Slain  for  us!"  If  he  has  not  forgotten 
Bethlehem  and  Galilee  and  Gethsemane 
and  Calvary,  no  more  do  they  forget  the 


50 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


days  when,  under  the  burden  and  guilt  of 
sm,  they  first  looked  to  the  cross,  and  felt 
that  his  blood  flowed  there  to  atone  and  to 
purify.  Therefore  they  sing,  "  Glory  unto 
hiin  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our 
sins  in  liis  own  blood." 

For  if  each  of  that  white-robed  company 
has  come  out  of  "  great  tribulation,"  each 
has  been  redeemed  from  grievous  bondage. 
Sin,  indeed,  was  the  secret  root  of  their  sor- 
row. Wherever  suffering  is,  sin  has  gone 
before  it,  as  the  shadow  follows  the  moving 
cloud.  And  if  the  robes  of  their  holy  ser- 
vice are  white  and  glistening,  they  can  not 
look  at  them  without  thinkino;  of  their  former 
stains.  They  are  "  washed,"  —  not  one  speck 
now  sulHes  their  immaculate  purity ;  but 
their  hands  have  not  cleansed  them.  No 
penitential  tears  could  thus  have  washed 
them  ;  no  life-blood  of  willing  martyrdom  ; 
no  baptismal  waters  ;  no  sacramental  grace. 
They  came  as  sinners,  and  washed  in  the 
fountain  which  God  has  opened,  and  the 


THE  WHITE  ROBES.  51 

blood  of  God's  Son  has  filled, —  that  sacred 
laver  in  the  court  of  the  temple,  which 
alone  avails  to  the  purifying  of  the  con- 
science and  the  spirit. 

Difficult  it  is  for  us  to  think  of  them, 
lifted  now  so  high  above  our  low- though  ted 
region  of  fears  and  sorrows,  as  once  crushed 
under  the  bondage  of  sin,  and  the  tyranny  of 
a  selfish  will,  and  the  "  evil  heart  of  un- 
belief." But  so  it  was.  They  have  known 
the  strife  with  temptation,  the  strength  of 
the  w^orld,  the  weakness  of  the  flesh,  "  fight- 
ings without  and  fears  within."  Sin  vexed 
and  saddened  them  all  their  days.  As  they 
became  more  holy  in  life,  more  spiritual  in 
mind,  they  were  more  quick  of  sight  to 
detect  sin,  more  sensitive  of  conscience  to 
shrink  from  it. 

The  whiter  the  garment,  the  darker  shows 
the  smallest  stain  on  it.  The  higher  they 
climbed  up  their  rugged  and  saintly  path, 
the  lower  did  they  lie  before  their  God. 
And  when,  to  those  toiling  in  the  valley, 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILUNOIS  LIBRARY 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


52 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


they  seemed  to  stand  on  a  serene  eminence 
of  faith  in  clear  sunlight,  and  were  called 
"  chief  of  saints,"  they  could  only  think 
what  grace  had  done,  and  call  themselves 

chief  of  sinners."  For  the  highest  point  of 
Christian  attainment  is  that  from  which  one 
has  the  clearest  view  of  Christ's  worth  aitd 
his  own  un worthiness.  But  now  they  are 
with  pure  hearts  and  white  raiment  before 
the  throne. 

And  as  a  "  cloud  of  witnesses,"  they  be- 
hold us  striving  as  once  they  strove,  weeping 
as  once  they  wept,  praying  as  once  they 
prayed.  Let  their  example  bid  us  be  of 
good  cheer.  Let  the  luminous  track  they 
have  left  behind  —  that  ''path  of  the  just," 
which  is  "as  the  shining  light,"  be  ours. 
Like  them,  let  us  "  look  off"  from  the  false 
shows  and  images  of  time,  which  would  be- 
guile us  of  our  reward,  and  look  steadfastly 
unto  Jesus. 


*'  Not  slothful,  but  followers  of  them  who  through  faith  and 
patience  inherit  the  promises.*' — Heb.  vi.  12. 


(Jlje  |)alm0  of  iJictorg. 

"  With  palms  in  their  hands."  —  Rev.  vii.  9. 

TT  was  not  merely  a  congregation  of  wor- 
"  shipers  that  the  apostle  saw  in  that  white- 
robed  multitude,  but  an  army  of  warriors 
rejoicing  when  the  fight  is  over,  and  the 
victory  won.  Each  had  not  only  to  endure 
tribulation,  but  to  resist  subtle  forces  of  evil 
at  work  within  him  and  without  him.  He 
had  to  strive  against  that  spiritual  substance, 
from  which  dark  shadows  of  temptation 
were  thrown  forward  on  his  soul.  Not 
with  flesh  and  blood  do  we  wrestle,  but  with 
principalities  and  powers." 

For  the  white  robes,  each  was  once  ar- 
rayed in  bruised  and  dinted  armor.  For 
the  palm  of  victory,  he  grasped  the  sword. 
Through  all  the  days  of  his  earthly  sojourn- 
ing, the  warfare  lasted.    Often  was  he  ready 


54 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


to  faint  through  weariness,  often  daunted 
by  the  great  company  that  was  leagued 
against  him,  —  spiritualities  of  wickedness" 
swarming  about  his  path,  ambushed  in  his 
very  thoughts.  But  through  the  grace  of 
Christ  he  persevered,  and  in  his  strength 
he  overcame. 

Often  did  he  look  for  the  evening  shadow 
that  was  to  call  him  from  the  tumult  of  the 
fight,  but  it  did  not  come  till  death  came. 
As  long  as  life  beat  within  him,  that  life  was 
a  struggle,  and  a  discipline^  of  hardness. 
Not  till  the  golden  bowl  was  broken,  the 
sword  of  his  warfare  lay  shivered  beside  it, 
and  the  weary  soldier  was  borne  home  by 
angels  to  his  rest. 

He  has  "  fought  the  good  fight ;  he  has 
finished  his  course,  and  kept  the  faith,"  and 
the  everlasting  gates  are  thrown  open.  An- 
gels chant  before  him  the  psalm  of  victory. 
Saints  throng  around  him  with  words  of 
welcome.  His  Father  smiles  "  Well  done  !" 
His  Lord,  "  the  righteous  Judge,"  gives 


THE  PALMS  OF  VICTORY. 


55 


him  the  reward  of  faithful  service,  and  he 
stands 

"  With  those  just  spirits  that  wear  victorious  palms, 
Hymns  devout  and  holy  psalms 
Singing  everlastingly." 

And  now  he  looks  back  from  his  rest  on 
the  rough  and  toilsome  track  through  w^hich 
he  fought  his  way,  and  wonders  that  he  was 
often  ready  to  faint  and  fail.  How  often  did 
he  doubt  the  Saviour's  love  at  the  very 
moment  that  love  upheld  him ;  and  distrust 
the  issue,  when  the  Saviour's  death  and  life 
together  assured  him  of  the  victory.  He 
has  received  the  reward  of  victory  now ; 
but  through  Christ  he  was  victorious,  even 
then.  For  once  that  sacred  bond  of  faith 
knits  us  to  our  unseen  Lord,  "  what  or  who 
shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?" 
"  Shall  tribulation,  or  distress,  or  persecution, 
or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword  ? 
Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than 
conquerors  through    him    that   loved  us." 

More  than  conquerors,"  for  he  says,  Be 

L  


56  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world." 
''And  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith,"  that  He,  the  Captain 
of  salvation,  has  for  all  his  followers  over- 
come. 

The  earthly  conqueror  knows  that  through 
his  own  strength  he  must  overcome,  but  the 
Christian,  "  more  than  conqueror,"  knows 
that  Christ  has  already  overcome.  The 
earthly  conqueror  can  not  gain  a  victory 
without  losses,  but  the  Christian  is  "  more 
than  conqueror,"  because  all  his  losses  turn 
to  gains.  The  earthly  conqueror  can  not 
carry  the  fruits  of  his  victories  to  the  grave, 
but  the  Christian  is  "  more  than  conqueror," 
for  they  follow  him  up  to  glory.  There  first 
he  receives  the  crown,  the  robe,  the  un- 
withering  palm  ;  and  all  eternity  is  the  feast 
of  his  triumph. 

"  I  have  trusted  in  thy  mercy;  my  heart  shall  rejoice  in  thy 
salvation."  —  Psalm  xiii.  5. 


"  Having  the  glory  of  God."  —  Rev.  xxi.  11. 

LORIOUS  things  are  spoken  of  thee,  O 
city  of  God !  "  but  this  is  the  sum  and 
fulfiUment  of  them  all.  Even  in  this  cloudy 
and  glimmering  time,  —  this  season  of  twi- 
light views  and  shadowy  glimpses,  —  thou 
shinest,  O  Zion !  as  a  light  in  this  dark 
world. 

And  better  days  are  in  reserve  for  thee 
on  earth  than  any  thou  hast  seen  as  yet, 
when  it  will  be  said,  "  Arise,  shine ;  for  thy 
light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
risen  upon  thee."  Blessed  hope,  that  re- 
vives the  believer's  heart,  when  "  iniquity 
abounds,"  and  love  waxeth  cold,"  and  the 
cause  of  God  is  depressed,  and  the  light  of 
living  godliness  is  weak  and  low,  as  if  the 
lamp  were  going  out  in  the  temple ! 

And  how  often  does  thine  own  lamp  burn 


58  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

dim,  O  Christian  !  in  this  damp  and  heavy 
atmosphere  of  earth  ?  How  often,  in  the 
honr  of  strong  temptation,  does  a  gloom,  "  a 
horror  of  great  darkness,"  seem  to  fall  with 
a  deadly  chill  upon  thy  spirit !  Or  insensi- 
bly, through  the  insidious  power  of  an  evil 
world,  thou  art  beguiled  to  slumber. 

Thy  spirit  falls  short  of  the  high  reach  of 
earlier  desire  and  aim,  — the  spring-tide  full- 
ness and  overflow  of  feeling  ebbs,  —  and,  ere 
thou  art  aware,  thou  hast  left  thy  first 
love,"  and  "  the  things  which  remain  are 
ready  to  die." 

And  then,  when  gloom  and  sorrow  and 
self-reproach  have  followed  the  season  of 
declension,  what  joy  is  thine  when  "  the 
day-«pring  from  on  high"  revisits  thy  soul, 
and  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  rises,  with 
healing  in  his  wings."  Then  the  prayer  of 
Moses  is  thine,  "  Lord,  show  me  thy  glory ;" 
and  the  faint  glimpses  of  it  which  are  given 
thee,  how  do  they  gladden  the  spirit  and 
disperse  the  mists  that  overhung  it ! 


THE  CITY'S  GLORY.  59 

But  what  will  it  be,  when  thou  dwellest  in 
the  noontide  liglit  and  clearness  of  the  glory 
of  God,  —  when  thou  art  a  priest  and  wor- 
shiper in  the  heavenly  temple  ?  There  it  is 
no  Shekinah,  no  luminous  symbol,  that 
marks  his  presence ;  but  that  Presence,  in 
unvailed  splendor,  is  itself  there,  shining  in 
constant  communications  of  love  and  favor, 
—  streaming  forth  in  glorious  sun-bursts  of 
life  and  blessedness  and  joy. 

If  to  Moses  it  was  a  sufficient  promise, 
"  My  presence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will 
give  thee  rest ;  "  what  will  it  be  when  that 
presence  shall  rest  on  thee,  and  overshadow 
thee,  and  hold  thee  in,  and  fold  thee  about 
for  ever? 

If  David  had  more  gladness  put  into  his 
heart  by  one  gleam  of  light  from  God's 
countenance  than  all  earthly  blessings  could 
impart,  what  will  it  be  when  that  light  flows 
in  upon  tliee  without  check  or  dimness  ? 
when  all  the  affections  and  capacities  of  a 
holy  being  are  filled  with  light  and  gladness 


60  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

to  the  brim?  The  Saviour's  face  will  ever 
shine  on  thee.  The  Father's  glory  will  be 
ever  seen  upon  thee.  All  darkness  will  be 
chased  away  from  thy  mind,  —  all  fear  and 
heaviness  from  thy  heart.  There  will  be 
"  no  part  dark,"  but,  to  the  innermost  re- 
gion of  the  spirit,  a  blessed  and  inspiring 
sense  of  life  and  freedom  and  peacefulness. 
There  will  be  no  presentiment  nor  foretaste 
there,  but  perfect  and  full-orbed  enjoyment. 
No  "  appearance  of  the  likeness  of  the  glory 
of  the  Lord;"  but  a  vision  which  will  be 
a  transformation  into  "  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christ !  " 

"  Thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down ;  neither  shall  thy  moon 
withdraw  itself;  for  the  Lord  shall  be  thine 
everlasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy 
mourning  shall  be  ended." 
Isaiah  Ix.  20. 


"  The  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof."  — Rev.  xxi.  23. 


LL  the  light  that  shines  on  the  pilgrim's 


path,  as  he  goes  on  his  way  to  the  far- 
off  city  of  his  rest,  is  light  from  Him,  "  the 
brightness  of  the  Father's  glorj^,"  — "  Im- 
mannel,  God  with  us." 

All  light  that  in  this  dark  world  illumines 
the  mind,  and  cheers  the  heart,  and  brings 
the  realities  of  heaven  more  near  and  vivid 
to  the  spirit,  is  light  that  dwells  in  him  as 
its  center,  and  streams  from  him  as  its 
source.  Life,  gladness,  healing,  and  purity, 
reach  and  fall  upon  the  soul  out  of  heaven, 
in  the  clear  shinino;  of  the  brio;ht  and 
mornino;  star."  So  sweet  the  o:race,  so  hio-h 
the  blessing,  that  "  having  not  seen "  him, 
save  in  the  spiritual  revelation  of  faith,  it 
"  loves  him,  and  believing,  rejoices  with  joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 


G2 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


But  oh,  what  joy  unspeakable  will  that  be, 
when  the  soul  enters  into  light  unspeakable, 
and  is  possessed  wholly  of  that  light !  What 
earthly  gladness  can  shadow  that  which  will 
flow  in  upon  it,  when,  caught  up  into 
paradise,"  it  sees  the  glory  of  heaven  gather- 
ed up  and  concentrated  in  the  glorified 
humanity  of  Christ.  It  is  one  like  unto 
the  Son  of  man,"  who  stands  a  great  light 
in  the  midst  of  heaven,  and  all  his  saints 
like  lesser  lights  move  round  him  in  their 
courses,  shining  in  the  brightness  they  re- 
ceive from  him. 

For  it  is  as  the  Lamb  that  he  is  the  light 
of  heaven.  As  the  once  suffering  Redeemer, 
now  Prince  and  Head  of  God's  unsuffering 
kingdom,  he  is  there  "  highly  exalted  "  and 
"  crowned  with  glory  and  honor."  To  each 
of  his  redeemed,  the  face  that  was  bright  on 
Tabor  is  not  more  beautiful  than  that  which 
grew  dark  on  Calvary.  The  visage  once 
marred  more  than  any  man,"  is  all  the  fairer 
now  for  their  remembrance  of  its  passion  and 


THE  CITY'S  LIGHT. 


63 


pain.  Heaven  takes  its  glory  from  him,  for 
tliey  can  see  nothing  there  but  in  the  light 
of  him  who  is  altogether  lovely."  Each 
golden  plate  and  jeweled  corner-stone  throws 
back  his  image,  gleams  and  sparkles  in  his 
light ;  and  all  precious  things  are  cast  into 
the  mold  and  fused  together  to  make  up  an 
image  of  that  affluence  of  glory  which  his 
presence  showers  over  heaven. 

It  is  because  "  the  Lamb  is  the  light 
thereof,"  that  the  light  of  the  city  is  like 
unto  a  stone  most  precious,  even  like  a 
jasper-stone,  clear  as  crystal."  For  what 
constellation  of  material  splendors  would  be 
to  the  redeemed  so  glorious  as  the  vision  of 
the  Lord?  —  so  fair  as  one  glance  of  that 
eye  —  one  look  of  that  countenance,  which 
chano:es  them  into  the  same  imao;e?  No 
a,  need  to  them  of  sun  or  moon.  These  are 
but  torches  that  burned  dimly  in  the  night- 
watches,  but  go  out  on  the  breaking  of  the 
day,  —  glimmering  lamps  at  the  outer  gate  of 
God's  house,  that  may  be  quenched  when 


64 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


the  guests  are  met  and  the  high  festival 
begun. 

Let  the  thought  cheer  thee,  O  believer! 
amidst  "  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time," 
that  such  glory  will  yet  be  revealed,  and  re- 
vealed in  thee.  Here  thou  often  "  walkest 
in  darkness  and  hast  no  light."  Thy  Lord 
may  be  hidden  from  thy  sight,  or  thou  be- 
holdest  him,  "  but  not  nigh."  But  there 
thou  shalt  walk  all  the  day  "  in  the  light  of 
his  countenance."  "  In  thy  Light  shall  we 
see  light,"  and  shine  "  all  glorious  within," 
knowing  as  we  are  known ;  loving  also,  in 
our  measure,  as  we  are  loved.  "  As  for 
me,  I  will  beliold  thy  face  in  peace ;  I  shall 
be  satisfied,  when  I  awake  with  thy  like- 
ness." 

"The  sun  shall  be  no  more  thy  light  by  day;  neither  for 
brightness  shall  the  moon  give  light  unto  thee; 
but  the  Lord  shall  be  unto  thee  an  ever- 
lasting light,  and  th}^  God  thy 
glory."  —  Isaiah  Ix.  19. 


"The  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve  foundations."  — 


HE  Seer  beheld  these  foundations  laid  in 


twelve  massive  tiers  or  courses,  under- 
girding  the  holy  city  beneath  the  jasper 
wall,  clasping  it  round  and  round  in  solid 
and  burnished  coils,  as  of  adamant.  And 
in  these  jeweled  stones,  cut  in  luminous 
ciphers,  so  as  to  be  plain  to  all  who  drew 
near,  were  the  names  of  the  twelve  apos- 
tles of  the  Lamb."  What  a  recompense  for 
life -long  trial,  when  John  saw  his  own 
name,  branded  in  the  earthly  Jerusalem, 
thus  blazoned  on  the  wall  of  the  Jerusalem 
above ! 

Not  through  eminent  merit,  or  shining 
graces,  are  these  names  there,  but  as  ^'  apos- 
tles of  the  Lamb."    These  are  they  which 


Kev.  xxi.  14. 


5 


66  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

"  followed  the  Lamb "  whithersoever  he 
went.  They  heard  his  voice,  and  loved  his 
ways,  and  learned  of  him  who  was  "  meek 
and  lowly;"  and  when  he  died,  and  rose 
again,  and  went  up  to  heaven,  they  went 
forth  in  the  power  of  his  promise  and  spirit- 
ual presence,  and  preached  over  the  world 
salvation  through  his  blood. 

These  first  received  the  baptism  of  fire. 
These  were  the  first  heralds  of  the  cross. 
In  the  simple  truths  of  the  gospel  which 
they  first  uttered,  they  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  City  of  God.  "  The  church  is  built 
on  the  foundation  of  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner- 
stone." And  it  is  meet  that  on  the  lowest 
stone  of  the  spiritual  temple  their  names 
should  be  preserved  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance. 

Here,  O  Christian  men !  behold  the  deep- 
hewn  foundations  of  your  hope.  Learn 
how  safe  and  inviolate  is  the  charter  of 
your  inheritance.     That  hope  is  based  on 


THE  TWELVE  FOUNDATIONS. 


67 


the  living  rock  of  truth,  the  faitliful  word 
of  him  who  is  the  Truth."  Bk\ss  God 
for  the  glorious  and  unperplexing  simplicities 
of  the  gospel.  Cling  to  its  elemental  say- 
ings, its  plain  verities.  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  Him  that 
Cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out." 
"  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor,  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
How  rich  that  field  of  truth  wherein  no  foot 
can  wander  without  striking  on  some  such 
golden  vein  of  mercy  ! 

Yours  is  a  "  city  which  hath  foundations," 
a  kingdom  which  can  not  be  moved,"  "  an 
inheritance  which  fadeth  not  away,"  a 
tabernacle  which  will  not  be  taken  down." 
Amidst  the  false  and  wavering  shadows  of 
Time,  "  you  have  in  heaven  a  better  and 
more  enduring  substance."  Cast  not  away 
therefore  your  confidence,  which  hath  such 
recompense  of  reward."  Be  ye  "  steadfast 
and  unmovable"  likewise. 

These     foundations  were  garnished  with 


68 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


all  manner  of  precious  stones.""  But  what 
is  mingling  radiance  of  sapphire  and  topaz, 
of  amethyst  and  chrysoprase,  to  the  glory  of 
God,  to  the  vision  of  the  Saviour?  Yet 
these  are  there,  all  that  earth  holds  excellent 
and  precious ;  and  the  loveliness  even  of 
earth  should  lead  you  to  discern,  in  material 
elements  and  forms,  types  and  simiHtudes 
of  heaven.  If  such  the  embroidery  of  the 
footstool,  what  must  be  the  splendor  of  the 
throne !  Surely  the  almond-knobs  and  lily- 
work  that  wreathe  the  door-posts  of  the 
temple,  the  fair  adorning  of  God's  outer 
courts,  should  make  you  long  to  "  see  his 
power  and  his  glory,"  so  as  only  they  are 
seen  in  the  sanctuary  above. 

*' Oh,  send  out  thy  light  and  thy  truth;  let  them  lead 
me,  let  them  bring  me  unto  thy  holy  hill, 
and  to  thy  tabernacles."  — 
Psalm  xliii.  3. 


"  They  stand  on  the  sea  of  glass."  —  Kev.  xv.  2. 

TT  is  "through  much  tribulation"  that  the 
Christian  must  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Through  "  windy  storm  and  tempest," 
through  rough  and  swelling  waters,  he  must 
keep  his  onward  way.  How  often  tossed 
upon  a  sea  of  troubles,  trembling  for  weak- 
ness in  the  grasp  of  a  strong  temptation,  or 
dragging  his  slow  steps  from  sorrow  unto 
sorrow,  does  he  say,  "  I  am  come  into  deep 
waters,  where  the  floods  overflow  me.  I 
sink  in  deep  ooze,  where  there  is  no  stand- 
ing." Deep  calleth  unto  deep  at  the  noise 
of  thy  water-spouts ;  all  thy  waves  and  thy 
billows  are  gone  over  me."  How  often,  like 
the  apostle's  prison  ship,  struck  by  the  storm- 
wind  Euroclydon,  and  "  driven  up  and  down 
in  Adria,"  is  there  no  resource  in  the  deep 


70  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

night  and  under  starless  skies,  but  to  cast 
forth  his  anchors  and  wait  for  the  day. 

And  now  that  day  is  springing,  and  there 
is  a  great  calm.  He  has  passed  through  the 
rude  waves  of  his  tribulation.  The  days  of 
his  fear  and  struggling  and  strong  crying 
are  ended.  From  the  perils  of  these  worldly 
seas  he  has  escaped  safe  to  land."  What 
an  emblem  of  rest  and  quietness  and  security 
has  each  of  the  redeemed  before  his  eyes  and 
under  his  feet.  He  stands  on  "the  sea  of 
glass,"  —  the  crystal  pavement,  that  stretches 
far  away  into  shining  distance  before  the 
throne.  As  if  the  expanse  of  the  shoreless 
ocean,  unruffled  by  a  breath,  had  been  so 
fixed  for  ever,  and  charmed  into  everlasting 
stillness.  They  stand  on  this  "  sea "  with 
"  quietness  and  assurance,"  as  their  heritage 
for  ever.  They  are  taken  up  into  a  great 
tranquilhty,  "  perfect  peace "  around  them, 
and  within  them  a  harmonious  calm.  A 
blessed  trance,  in  which  their  eyes  are  open, 
and  the  heart  silently  fills  with  joy,  as  a 


THE  CRYSTAL  SEA. 


71 


vessel  at  a  fountain.  Their  life  is  now  "  the 
keeping  of  a  Sabbath."  They  have  enter- 
ed into  rest/'  and  ceased  from  their  own 
works,  as  God  did  from  his."  They  are 
at  rest  from  trial  and  temptation,  from 
watches  and  alarms,  from  evil  spirits  and 
wicked  men,  from  strife  and  violence  and 
clamor,  from  rough  winds  and  swelling 
waters  and  toilsome  ways.  In  this  sense, 
there  is  ''no  more  sea"  (xxi.  1).  The 
"  noise  of  the  seas,  the  noise  of  their  waves, 
and  the  tumult  of  the  people,"  are  stilled  by 
him  who  "  sitteth  King  upon  the  flood." 

No  restless  passion  troubles  the  grave  and 
settled  mind.  Each  soul  possesses  itself  in 
strength  and  confidence.  Each  is  kept, 
"  like  a  city  that  is  compact  together,"  by  a 
"  peace  which  passeth  understanding."  No 
vexing  thought  hovers  over  the  clear  spirit, 
to  cast  the  smallest  shadow  from  its  wino; : 
no  breath  of  evil  ruffles  the  serenity  of  the 
holy  heart.  All  passions  and  affections  and 
desires  are  still  in  the  presence  of  God,  as 


72  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

Solomon's  brazen  sea  in  the  court  of  the 
temple. 

The  apostle  saw  this  sea  of  glass  "  mingled 
with  fire,"  as  if  the  reflection  of  the  seven 
lamps,  ever  burning  before  the  throne,  was 
visible  in  its  crystal  deeps,  in  dazzling  veins 
and  streaks  of  brightness.  A  symbol,  it 
might  be,  of  God's  abiding  presence  in  the 
glorified  soul.  For  each  will  in  his  place 
reflect  his  glory  —  each  will  be  a  mirror  of 
the  uncreated  Excellence.  Each,  in  his 
deep  peace,  will  have  as  deep  a  joy  in  the 
vision  of  God.  And  the  Spirit  of  God  will 
dwell  and  move  in  each  as  fire  ;  not  now  to 
search  and  purify,  but  to  keep  their  love  and 
fervor  up  to  the  fullest  strain  of  their  ethe- 
real powers. 

"  The  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed  ; 
but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee, 
neither  shall  the  covenant  of  my 
peace  be  removed."  — 
Isaiah  liv.  10. 


^\)t  (ffmeralb  HainbotD. 

"  A  rainbow  round  about  the  throne,  in  sight  like  unto  an 
emerald."  —  Rev.  iv.  3. 

ITT  HAT  John  now  sees  in  Patmos  re- 
sembles what  Ezekiel  saw  by  Chebar  ; 
but  there  is  one  point  of  difference.  The 
Hebrew  prophet  saw  the  firmament  of  the 
terrible  crystal,"  and  the  sapphire-colored 
throne,  and  the  mystic  Appearance,  and  the 
beautiful  arch  of  fire,  "  as  the  likeness  of 
the  bow  that  is  in  the  cloud  in  the  day  of 
rain."  But  there  it  was  an  amber-tinted 
halo  that  arched  the  throne,  —  an  angry  and 
threatening  brightness ;  for  God  had  pre- 
pared his  throne  for  judgment. 

Here  the  brilliant  coronal  is  wreathed  of 
a  soft  and  tempered  light,  —  "a  rainbow,  in 
sight  like  unto  an  emerald ;  for  God  is  sit- 
ting on  the  throne  of  grace.    This  blessed 


74 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


sign  is  bended  round  the  throne  by  the  hands 
of  God,  in  token  of  love  and  hope  and  rec- 
onciliation, —  the  sweet  symbol  of  the  cove- 
nant of  everlasting  peace. 

It  is  God  in  Christ,  O  trembling  heart  of 
faith !  who  sits  for  tliee  on  the  throne  of 
heaven.  All  his  majesty  now  throws  luster 
on  his  mercy ;  and  in  the  light  of  his  mercy, 
in  the  face  of  Jesus,  thou  beholdest  all  his 
bright  perfections,  and  canst  worship  him 
"  in  the  beauty  of  holiness."  Only  because 
the  Mediator  stands  before  the  throne,  and 
the  way  through  the  vail  is  sprinkled  with 
his  blood,  hast  thou  freedom  of  access  and 
sureness  of  acceptance  and  sweetness  of 
communion. 

How  pleasant,  when  the  thunder-cloud 
drifts  from  the  sky,  and  the  clear  blue  light 
is  streaming  cool  through  its  rents,  and  the 
green  summer-fields  sparkle  with  dewy  fresh- 
ness, and  the  rain -scented  thickets  of  bloom 
send  pulses  of  fragrance  through  the  air,  to 
see  the  rainbow  fling  its  glittering  loop  round 


THE  EMERALD  RAINBOW.  75 

the  somber  vault,  and  open  its  seven  stripes 
of  color  out  of  the  storm,  like  some  beauti- 
ful flower  of  light !  You  see  in  it  the  holy 
emblem  of  God's  covenant  with  man,  — 
Love's  device  blazoned  on  Heaven's  ever- 
lasting shield,  —  the  signal-flag  of  hope  and 
peace  flying  high  in  the  tempest.  All  the 
secret  hues  of  light  are  there,  braided  and 
woven,  to  vivify  the  type  to  the  eye  and 
heart  of  man.  But  in  the  "  rainbow  round 
the  throne,"  all  colors  seem  to  mingle  and 
flow  into  one,  and  that  the  softest  and  most 
refreshing  to  the  eye.  It  is  Earth's  chosen 
color,  —  the  household  dress  of  our  common 
mother,  —  the  emerald  tint  of  spring,  on 
which  we  love  to  look,  and  can  look  longest. 

Thus  drawing  near  to  the  throne  of  God 
in  Christ,  we  see,  in  the  bright  display  of 
his  mercy,  the  blended  splendor  of  his  holi- 
ness and  wisdom  and  truth  and  power.  In 
the  grace  "  that  bringeth  salvation,"  we  be- 
hold all  the  attributes  of  glory  meet  and 
mingle  and  harmonize.    The  Father's  eye 


76 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


saw  the  brilliant  halo  that  hung  round  the 
Cross  of  Calvary,  and  with  it  he  has  arched 
his  throne ;  and  his  mercy,  thus  glorified,  is 
"  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe." 
How  blessed  now  to  see  all  his  holy  perfec- 
tions in  seeing  his  mercy,  to  look  through 
that  mercy  to  the  mild  and  chastened  splen- 
dor of  his  glorj',  to  think  that  in  the  inner- 
most center  of  the  sapphire  light  there  is  a 
heart  beating  with  love  and  tenderness  to 
man.  For  God  is  not  in  the  earthquake  and 
whirlwind  and  fire,  as  he  is  in  the  still  small 
voice,  interpreted  by  Christ,  the  living  Word. 
And  there  for  ever,  at  the  burning  core  and 
heart  of  that  great  splendor,  sitteth  God  in 
Christ,  the  beatific  Vision  of  the  glorified. 

"  Though  thou  wast  angry  with  me,  thine  anger  is 
turned  away,  and  thou  comfortedst 
me."  —  Isaiah  xii.  1. 


©Ije  Qtmn  Camps. 

"Seven  lamps  of  fire,  burning  before  the  throne."  — 
Rev.  iv.  5. 

TT  was  no  massive  candlestick,  as  in  the 
Jewish  temple,  wrought  by  cunning 
hand,  in  shaft  and  bowl,  of  beaten  gold,  and 
embossed  with  delicate  knop  and  flower. 
Rather  a  constellation  of  living  fires,  burn- 
ing up  from  ethereal  springs,  shedding  mys- 
tic radiance  on  the  throne,  and  underneath 
on  the  crystal  sea. 

For  these  are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God," 
the  One  Divine  Spirit  in  sevenfold  fullness 
of  gift,  and  sevenfold  diversity  of  operation, 
—  One  glorious  Person  repeating  the  image 
of  his  infinite  perfection  in  the  seven  muTors 
of  the  type.  There  he  shows  forth  his  glory 
before  the  throne,  as  worthy  with  the  Father 
and  Son  to  be  worshiped  and  glorified. 


78  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

There  he  is  now,  radiating  light  and  grace 
and  vital  energy  to  the  hearts  of  men ;  the 
Spirit  of  truth  glorifying  Christ  by  revealing 
to  the  soul  his  image,  and  assimilating  the 
soul,  by  his  indwelling  presence,  to  that 
which  he  reveals.    He  is  there,  amidst  the 

lightnings  and  thunderings  and  voices " 
that  issue  from  the  throne,  shining  a  calm,  a 
clear,  and  silent  fire.  For  serene  Wisdom 
touches  the  secret  springs  of  Providence. 
Peace  is  at  the  heart  of  all  its  agitations,  and 
light  upon  the  inner  edges  of  all  its  clouds. 
These  lights  burn  on,  and  tremble  not  for 
earthly  wind  or  air. 

How  often,  brethren  of  the  faith !  do 
God's  ways  in  the  great  world  without,  and 
the  little  world  within  us,  seem  dark  and 
strange.  "  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round 
about  him."  Our  eyes  can  not  pierce  them, 
and  the  lamp  of  faith  bums  dim,  and  the 
mists  come  down  and  settle  upon  our  unquiet 
hearts.  But  still  the  "  seven  lamps "  burn 
before  the  throne.    These  mists  and  vapors 


THE  SEVEN  LAMPS. 


79 


are  for  iis,  not  for  him.  He  speaks  to  us 
from  the  cloudy  pillar,"  and  says,  What 
I  do  thou  knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt 
know  hereafter." 

And  before  the  throne  "  these  lamps  will 
ever  burn.  They  shall  never  be  quenched, 
—  never  grow  dim  and  die,  —  for  witli  the 
Father  and  Son,  the  Holy  Spirit  lives  and 
reio;ns  for  ever  and  ever.  These  OTidino- 
liglits  of  Time  will  shine,  the  great  watch- 
lamps  of  Eternity.  Their  holy  splendor  will 
mingle  with  the  beams  of  God's  countenance, 
and  the  rays  of  his  glory  streaming  from  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Nothing  that  is  evil  and  earthly  lives 
within  their  range.  All  heat  of  passion,  all 
flame  of  discord,  all  turbulent  desire,  die 
where  that  pure  radiance  falls,  as  sunlight 
quenches  firelight.  There  the  Spirit  of 
light  and  holiness  completes  the  baptism  of 
fire  "  which  was  here  begun.  With  seven- 
fold illumination  and  inspiring  energy,  he 
will  fill  the  spirits  of  the  just  to  the  measure 


80  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY.  ' 

of  their  powers.  The  golden  vessels  of  the 
sanctuary  will  by  him  be  filled  Avith  the 
wine  of  life. 

He  will  be  there  replenishing  all  minds 
with  light,  all  hearts  with  love ;  touching  all 
lips  with  altar-fire,  and  breathing  fervor  and 
inspiration  into  the  devotion  of  Eternity. 
Here  it  is  from  grace  to  grace ;  there  from 
glory  to  glory. 

It  is  thine,  O  Blessed  Spirit !  to  lead  us 
these  first  steps  in  the  way  of  life.  Hold 
up  our  goings  through  this  evil  world.  Keep 
our  feet  from  falling.  Where  thou  art, 
there  is  liberty  and  pleasantness  and  safe 
guidance.  Lead  us  on,  thou  steadfast  Light, 
from  stage  to  stage  of  life's  journey,  till  we 
stand  before  God  in  the  light  everlasting. 

"Thy  Spirit  is  good;  lead  me  into  the  land  of  upright- 
ness."—  Psalm  cxliii.  10. 


(tabernacle  ovtv  tijem. 

"  He  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  them," 
(lit.  "make  a  tabernacle  over  them.")  —  Rev.  vii.  15. 

n^HE  image  is  drawn  from  the  peculiar 
favor  enjoyed  by  the  chosen  people  in 
their  wanderings,  from  the  visible  protection 
of  the  Most  High.  He  had  made  himself 
an  habitation  with  men,  showed  his  glory  in 
the  mystic  fire,  and  spoken  his  oracles  from 
"  the  cloudy  pillar."  The  shadow  of  his 
presence  lay  upon  the  thousand  tents  of 
Jacob. 

In  a  far  higher  sense,  in  the  state  of  the 

glorified,  "  the  tabernacle  ^  of  God  is  with 

men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them,"  and 

they  in  him.    The  holy  Jerusalem  is  the 

royal  pavihon  of  his  majesty.     Into  it  he 

has  gathered  all  the  riches  and  honor  of  his 

kingdom.    In  it  he  manifests  his  glory  by 
6 


82 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


immediate  revelation,  and  gladdens  with 
ever-shining  favor  the  hearts  of  the  redeemed. 
There,  all  their  wants  are  supplied  from  his 
infinite  resources,  —  the  "  riches  of  his  glory." 
"  Tliey  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  shall 
they  thirst  any  more."  They  will  feel  no 
craving  passion,  no  unsatisfied  desire,  but  be 
ever  drawing  from  the  deep  well-spring  of 
life  and  blessedness. 

And  his  overshadowing  presence  will  de- 
fend them  from  all  evil  and  hurt  and  malig- 
nant influences.  The  sun  shall  not  light 
on  them,  nor  any  heat."  The  covering  of 
his  tent  screens  the  traveler  from  the  fervor 
and  sultriness  and  blinding  glare  of  an  east- 
ern noon.  It  shields  him  from  the  heavy 
and  chillino;  dews  of  night.  From  all  the 
evils  of  this  desert  life,  God  is  to  his  people 
here  a  refuge  and  safeguai'd  ;  and  hereafter 
he  will  hide  them  "  secretly  in  his  pavilion," 
where  no  evil  can  come  near  them.  Upon 
every  dwelling-place  of  Mount  Zion  the 
glory  shall  be  a  defense.    And  there  shall 


THE  TABERNACLE  OVER  TIIEM. 


83 


be  a  tabernacle  in  the  daytime  from  the 
heat,  and  for  a  place  of  refuge,  and  for  a 
covert  from  storm  and  from  rain."  The 
tent  of  the  desert  must  soon  be  struck  and 
folded,  and  the  wayfarer  again  exposed  to 
heats  and  dews ;  but  the  tabernacle  which 
God  has  pitched  will  not  be  taken .  down. 
He  has  been  the  dwelling-place  of  the  faith- 
ful in  all  generations.  He  will  be  their 
everlasting  home. 

Here,  O  pilgrim  of  eternity  !  thou  farest 
through  barren  wastes  ;  but  thou  art  going 
home.  Thou  dwellest  in  a  tent  which  must 
soon  shrivel  up  and  loosen  into  dust;  but 
this  should  only  endear  the  thought  of  thy 
quiet  and  secure  dwelling-place  in  heaven. 
In  this  "  weary  land  "  your  heart  sometimes 
fails,  and  you  cast  yourself  down  in  a  dark 
and  troubled  mood  under  Elijah's  juniper, 
instead  of  sitting  in  the  "  shadow  of  the 
great  Rock."  But  there  thy  dwelling  will 
be  eternal,  "  the  Rock  of  ages,"  and  thou 
shalt  drink  of  the  living  water  that  gushes 


84  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

from  its  clefts.  Therefore  now  abide  in 
him."  Watch  daily  at  his  gates,  wait  at 
the  posts  of  his  doors."  Pray  that  you  may 
"^dwell,"  by  the  grace  of  a  daily  communion, 
in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High." 
Resort  thither,  by  Christ,  ''the  Way,"  the 
living  Way,  by  which  mortal  weakness  joins 
itself  to  everlasting  strength.  Dream  not, 
as  others,  of  making  God  a  refuge  merely  in 
times  of  sorrow,  —  a  porch  by  the  way-side 
in  which  you  may  take  shelter  from  a  pass- 
ing storm.  One  thing  desire  of  the  Lord  ; 
and  let  that  one  thing  concentrate  and  bind 
up  the  multitude  of  thoughts  within  thee, 
into  a  vehement  longing  and  necessity  of 
the  soul. 

"  That  1  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days 
of  my  life,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  inquire  in  his  temple.'* 
Psalm  xxvii.  4. 


Sflje  Hogal  Banquet. 

"The  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb."  —  Rev.  xix.  9. 

^^^HEN  we  shrink  from  bearing  the  re- 
proach of  Christ,  let  us  remember 
what  he  is  now  doing  for  us  in  heaven. 
Tliere  he  stands,  the  loving  Intercessor,  pray- 
ing that  our  faith  fail  not.  There  he  prepares 
a  place  for  us,  and  looks  forward  to  the  time 
when  all  his  saints  will  be  prepared  to  meet 
him,  and  he  will  present  them  unto  the 
Father  "  a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot, 
or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing."  His  joy, 
his  honor,  his  glory,  will  not  be  complete 
till  the  great  gathering  of  the  saints,  when 
all  things  are  ready,  and  he  and  those  for 
whom  he  died  will  be  "  one,  as  he  and  the 
Father  are  one."  "  One,"  in  a  visible  cov- 
enant, and  union  of  everlasting  love. 

The  closest  and   holiest  relationship  of 


86  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

earth  is  chosen  as  its  symbol.  His  by  solemn 
betrothal  now,  they  will  be  his  by  manifest 
choice  and  recognition  then,  —  a  high  solem- 
nity, a  festival  of  gladness,  —  of  which  all 
shows  of  earthly  joy,  however  deep  and 
pure,  are  but  the  faintest  images.  Then  will 
he  come  forth  in  glorious  apparel,"  and  all 
who,  though  they  saw  him  not,  yet  loved 
him,  will  stand  arrayed  in  his  own  unsullied 
righteousness,  "  as  in  fine  linen,  clean  and 
white."  And  between  them  will  pass  the 
tender  greeting,  "  My  beloved  is  mine,  and 
I  am  his!"  and  the  great  rejoicing  of  eter- 
nity will  begin.  None  may  enter  the  palace 
gate  of  heaven  clothed  with  sackcloth." 
All  have  on  the  wedding  garment,  for  "  in 
his  presence  is  fullness  of  joy." 

If  that  presence  on  earth  blessed  the  mar- 
riage feast  of  Cana,  how  blessed "  will 
those  be  w^ho  are  "  called  unto  the  marriage 
supper  of  the  Lamb."  The  highest  joy  the 
heart  has  known  on  earth  is  but  the  shadow 
of  the  common  joy  of  heaven,  as  earth's 


THE  ROYAL  BANQUET. 


87 


clearest  light  is  but  the  shadow  of  heaven's 
glory.  All  the  water  there  is  turned  into 
wine ,  and  the  vessels  are  filled  to  the  brim. 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  is  there,  rejoicing 
in  God,  her  Saviour ;  and  all  the  disciples 
are  there,  saying,  ^'  Thou  hast  kept  the  best 
wine  until  now."  And  the  servants  there 
are  shining  angels,  gladly  ministering  unto 
the  heirs  of  salvation." 

There  abides  pleasure  without  alloy,  and 
enjoyment  without  end.  The  King  has 
brought  his  guests  into  the  banqueting 
house,  and  "  his  banner  over  them  is  love," 
to  be  furled  never  more.  In  the  sure  posses- 
sion of  that  love  which  was  "  stronger  than 
death,"  in  the  serene  consciousness  of  God's 
favor,  they  have  endless  resources  of  blessed- 
ness suited  to  the  wants  of  an  endless  being. 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  "  on  earth  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness."  Dost  thou 
mourn  that  thy  desires  for  holiness  and 
heaven,  and  the  vision  of  the  Saviour  and 
the  fruition  of  God,  are  so  feeble?  The 


88 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


faintest  longing  shows  that  immortal  life 
stirs  within  thee,  and  that  spark  will  not  be 
quenched.  Or,  dost  thou  lament  that  as 
yet  thou  hast  no  quiet  and  abiding  sense  of 
satisfaction  for  thy  spiritual  wants?  Pray 
and  wait,  for  the  promise  is,  "  There  is  no 
want  to  them  that  fear  him."  "  Bread  shall 
be  given  thee ;  thy  water  shall  be  sure." 
Here,  at  times,  some  little  joy  enters  into 
thy  heart,  as  if  it  trickled,  drop  by  drop. 
There  thou  shalt  "  enter  into  joy  "  as  the 
wide  and  bottomless  element  of  thy  being. 
And  it  will  be  as  lasting  as  it  is  pure.  The 
joy  of  the  redeemed  flows  from  God  as  its 
fountain,  and  after  all  its  windings,  returns 
into  God  as  its  ocean. 

"The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength."  — 
Nehemiah  viii.  10. 


Sllje  lircr  of  £ik 

"  And  he  showed  me  a  pure  river  of  the  water  of  life,  clear 
as  crystal,  proceeding*  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of 
the  Lamb."  —  Rev.  xxii.  1. 

A  S  thou  goest  on  thy  way,  look  not  back 
to  a  paradise  that  is  lost.  Look  for- 
ward, and  long  for  a  better  paradise  that  is 
promised.  The  second  Adam,  the  Lord 
from  heaven,"  is  the  keeper  of  the  garden, 
and,  to  cheer  thy  fainting  spirit,  gives  thee 
glimpses  of  the  beauty  and  pleasantness 
within.  A  river  went  out  of  the  region  of 
Eden,  to  water  the  garden  which  was  man's 
first  heritage.  But  that  garden  is  withered, 
and  its  river  is  dry.  Man  is  an  outcast  and 
wanderer,  and  every  well  he  digs  in  the 
wilderness  is  bitter  as  Marah  to  his  lips. 

But  what  our  sin  has  forfeited,  God's 
mercy  has  given  back,  and  it  will  be  lost 
no  more.       There  is  a  river,  the  streams 


90  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

whereof  make  glad  the  city  of  our  God." 
Even  here,  in  this  desert  land,  hast  thou  not 
drunk  of  its  refreshino;  streams  ?  Passins: 
through  this  "  valley  of  Baca,"  hast  thou 
not  come  to  springs  fed  by  dews  of  heavjen, 
and  drawn  water  with  joy  out  of  wells  of 
"  salvation  ? "  Yet  how  often  hast  thou 
journeyed  many  days  as  "  in  a  dry  and 
parched  land  where  no  water  is  ? "  Or, 
sitting  by  the  well,  hast  felt  thy  heart  so 
cold,  thy  faith  so  feeble,  that,  as  if  thou 
hadst  nothing  to  draw  with,  thou  hast  gone 
thy  way  athirst  and  unrefreslied? 

But  in  the  better  country,  the  river  of 
life  flows  on  in  a  deep,  full,  and  brimming 
tide.  Through  the  midst  of  the  new  Jeru- 
salem it  runs,  and  nothing  can  hinder  the 
happy  citizens  from  coming  to  its  banks,  and 
drawing  at  will  from  its  reviving  waters. 

It  is  "  water  of  life,"  communicating  ever- 
fresb  supplies  of  life  and  vigor  and  gladness 
to  those  who  drink  of  it.  It  is  "  a  river  of 
water  of  life,"  gliding  onward  in  a  calm. 


THE  RFV^ER  OF  LIFE. 


 1 

91 


stately,  and  unhindered  current.  It  is  "pure," 
and  "  clear  as  crystal,"  holding  nothing  in 
solution  that  can  sully  or  ruffle  its  trans- 
})arent  purity,  —  ever  keeping  in  its  glassy 
deeps  the  images  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and 
serene  and  holy.  And,  unlike  the  river  of 
the  former  paradise,  which  flowed  from 
earthly  springs,  it  "  proceedeth  out  of  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb."  Till  that 
throne  shakes,  its  springs  will  never  cease  to 
flow.  It  has  its  sources  in  the  innermost 
depth  of  heaven,  —  in  the  secret  heart  of  God, 

—  and  thus  it  ever  replenishes  itself  from 
fountains  that  are  inexhaustible.  Blessed  em- 
blem of  all  that  can  refresh  and  satisfy  the 
lonmno-s  of  the  immortal  mind,  —  limitless 
supplies  of  spiritual  life  and  joy,  —  of  "peace 
which  passeth  understanding,"  flowing  from 
the  mystery  of  a  "  love  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge!"    The  Father  showing  forth  his  glory, 

—  the  Son  opening  his  heart  of  love,  the 
Spirit  filling  the  mind  with  light  and  blessed- 
ness ! 


92 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


How  narrow  and  limited  are  our  capacities 
here ;  how  seldom,  if  ever,  are  they  satisfied 
as  they  might  be !  But  there  they  are  ever 
widening  and  enlarging;  and  as  they  expand, 
life  and  gladness  are  ever  flowing  in  and 
keeping  them  at  the  full.  By  the  wells  of 
the  wilderness,  think,  O  Christian !  of  the 
well  of  Bethlehem.  Thirst  for  the  water 
which  Jesus  gives,  and  which  springs  up 
into  everlasting  life."  Let  this  be  thy  daily 
prayer:  ''Make  me  to  drink  of  the  river  of 
thy  pleasures,"  that  well  of  love  which 
gushes  from  thy  heart,  —  pure,  deep,  abound- 
ing, and  perpetual !  And  after  being  led  by 
his  Spirit  to  the  "  nether  springs  "  of  grace, 
the  Lamb  shall  lead  thee  to  the  "  upper 
springs,"  —  the  "  living  fountains  of  waters  " 
which  flow  in  the  "  goodly  heritage  "  above. 

"All  my  springs  are  in  thee.'*  —  Psalm  Ixxxvii.  7. 


®m  of  Cife. 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  street  of  it,  and  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  was  there  the  tree  of  life."  —  Rev.  xxii.  2. 

TN  the  earthly  paradise  there  was  a  "  tree 
of  life" — but  only  one  —  "  in  the  midst  of 
the  garden."  When  man  fell,  the  eating  of 
it  would  have  entailed  on  him  an  immortality 
of  woe.  But  thine  is  an  inheritance,  O  pil- 
grim to  Zion  !  where  life  is  not  only  given 
back  to  thee,  but  "  given  more  abundantly." 
There,  this  tree  of  sovereign  virtue  grows  in 
its  native  soil.  Every-where  it  blooms,  the 
emblem  of  happiness  that  will  never  end. 
All  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  its  branches 
overhang  the  peaceful  current,  and  the 
screening  foliage  casts  a  cool  and  delicious 
freshness  over  the  streets  where  the  holy 
citizens  walk  in  white. 

Here,  now  and  then,  at  seasons  and  in 


94  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

scenes  dear  to  thy  memory,  thou  hast  sat 
under  the  shadow  of  thy  Lord  with  great 
delight,"  and  found  his  "  fruit  sweet  to  the 
taste."  But  how  few  and  how  transient 
have  been  those  seasons  of  hallowed  enjoy- 
ment !  Their  very  rareness  marks  them  out 
as  green  spots  in  the  waste.  They  are 
places  like  those  where  the  patriarchs  planted 
groves  and  reared  altars,  because  God  had 
there  met  with  them,  but  divided  from  each 
other  by  long  and  sultry  marches. 

But  in  the  Paradise  above,  that  shadow 
neither  moves  nor  turns.  Thy  Lord  departs 
not  from  thee,  nor  thou  from  him.  This 
"  great  delight "  is  the  law  and  element  of 
thy  being.  But  there  will  be  more  than 
gladness.  There  will  be  nurture  suited  to 
the  needs  and  longings  of  a  purified  spirit. 
All  that  can  satisfy  the  desires  and  capacities 
of  a  sinless  nature  will  be  supplied  in  abun- 
dance and  variety.  To  this  tree  every  month 
brings  the  ripeness  and  mellowness  of  sum- 
mer, and  its  boughs  are  laden  with  twelve 


THE  TREE  OF  LIFE. 


95 


kinds  of  clustering  fruits.  Its  very  leaves 
have  a  sweet  balsamic  virtue.  They  are  not 
to  be  trodden  under  foot,  but  are  for  the 
healing:  of  the  nations." 

With  these  leaves  the  Saviour  bound  up 
and  healed  thy  wounds,  and  thou  hast  learn- 
ed to  value  them ;  —  to  prize  the  shnplest 
words  of  Christ,  because  they  have  life  in 
them,  —  the  commonest  mercies  of  God,  be- 
cause they  have  love  in  them.  If  the  leaf 
of  heaven  have  health  in  it,  wdiat  fragrance 
will  be  in  its  flowers,  what  sweetness  in  its 
fruits  ? 

How  vivid  a  type  of  the  fresh  and  ever- 
varied  delights  reserved  for  those  to  whom 
the  Saviour's  death  has  opened  the  heavenly 
Paradise !  What  fullness  of  joy  "  is  in 
the  Father's  presence,  —  what  richness  of 
provision  in  his  house !  There  are  many 
mansions  "  there.  There  is  "  bread  enough 
and  to  spare."  Its  wine-vessels  are  filled  to 
the  brim.  Its  fruits  never  cloy.  Its  pleas- 
ures never  fade.    There  is  no  sameness,  no 


96  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

satiety,  no  weariness,  in  the  exquisite  enjoy- 
ments which  fill  up  the  bright  and  spacious 
round  of  an  immortal  being.  "  Not  as  the 
world  giveth  "  does  Christ  give. 

The  life  of  heaven  may  appear  dull  and 
blank  and  monotonous  to  the  world ;  but 
not  to  thee,  O  Christian  !  Thou  hast  the 
key  to  it  in  the  love  of  Christ.  Were  it 
not  eternity,  it  would  be  too  short  to  give  to 
him  all  thou  hast  to  give  of  thy  love,  and  to 
receive  from  him  all  thou  hast  to  receive  of 
the  ''joy  which  is  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory."  The  tokens  and  pledges  of  that 
love, — thy  sweet  experiences  of  heaven, — will 
be  ever  new.  There  are  the  pleasant  fruits 
which  thou  shalt  gather.  For  Time's  win- 
ter is  past,  the  rain  is  over  and  gone  ;  "  and 
the  happy  soul  is  "  summering  high  in  bliss 
upon  the  hills  of  God." 

"Because  thy  loving-kindness  is  better  than  life,  my 
lips  shall  praise  thee."  —  Psalm  Ixiii.  3. 


"^^^        %^^§  %^^§ 

®lje  €voim  of  Cifc. 


''Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a 


HRIST  warns  his  faithful  saints  at  Smyr- 


na,  tried  sore  already,  to  prepare  for  a 
fierce  storm  of  tribulation  gathering  in  the 
distance.  Still  he  says  to  them,  Fear 
not !  "  A  little  while  and  it  will  burst  upon 
you,  and  again  a  little  while,  and  it  will 
pass  away,  and  you  will  be  witli  your  Lord  ! 
There  is  a  needs  be  "  that  you  should  be 
tried  even  unto  death ;  but  be  ye  "  faithful 
unto  death,  and  I  will  give  you  a  crown  of 
life."  It  is  long  since  the  aged  Poly  carp, 
and  many  of  these  saints  at  Smyrna,  walked 
through  the  heated  furnace  to  their  crown. 
But  the  words  that  spoke  fervor  and  courage 
and  endurance  to  them  speak  to  us. 

In  the  warfare  we  wage,  if  we  have  taken 
7 


crown  of  life."  —  Rev.  ii.  10. 


98  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

up  the  cross,  what  hope  could  we  have  if  we 
did  not  liear  his  voice  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight,  —  if  we  did  not  see  him  wave  the 
banner  and  point  to  the  prize  ?  It  is  only 
in  him,  as  "  a  very  present  help,"  that  we 
can  overcome.  And  when  all  his  saints  are 
at  his  feet,  each  wearing  this  bright  diadem 
on  his  forehead,  how  deep  will  be  the  Sav- 
iour's joy.  For  every  crown  he  sees,  a  drop 
of  Iiis  blood  was  given  ;  and  for  every  ran- 
somed spirit  that  wears  one,  a  jewel  sparkles 
in  his  own. 

It  is  a  ''crown  of  life,"  —  the  reward  of 
faithfulness  unto  death,  and  victory  in  death, 
—  the  seal  and  emblem  of  life  immortal.  It 
is  a  "  crown  of  righteousness,  —  the  reward 
laid  up  for  those  who  have  walked  with 
the  Lord  their  Righteousness  in  peace  and 
equity,  and  kept  their  steadfastness  in  an 
evil  time,  —  the  memorial  of  their  complete 
and  unsullied  purity.  It  is  a  "  crown  of 
glory,"  —  symbol  of  favor  and  honor  and 
blessedness  to  be  enjoyed  in  the  presence  of 


THE  CROWN  OF  LIFE. 


99 


God,  —  a  crown  like  that  which  Christ  wears. 
All  heaven  lies  within  that  golden  circlet. 

It  is  an  incorruptible  crown," — a  crown 
of  amaranth,  ever  fresh  and  green  and  un- 
fading. No  rust  or  dimness  will  gather  on 
that  virgin  gold.  No  sereness  or  blight  will 
stain  the  leaves  of  that  un withering  w^reath. 
For  the  blessedness  of  which  it  is  the  em- 
blem knows  no  change  nor  decay.  He  who 
is  over  the  house  of  God  dispenses  its  honors 
with  a  full  hand  and  a  willing  heart.  There 
are  no  alternations,  no  vicissitudes,  in  that 
"  fullness  of  joy."  No  planet  waxes  and 
wanes  in  the  sky  of  heaven, — no  tide  ebbs 
and  flows  in  ^hat  crystalline  sea ;  but  all  is 
ever  at  the  full. 

For  such  a  "  recompense  of  reward,"  who 
would  not  be  faithful  to  his  Master's  ser- 
vice? Who  that  knows  the  love  of  Christ 
but  would  serve  him  unto  death,  were  there 
no  white  robe,  no  golden  crown  !  But  he 
sends  us  not  "  a  warfare  at  our  own  charge," 
nor  does  he  leave  us  without  hope  of  reward. 


100  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


Let  US  bear  the  cross  as  far  as  our  Master 
bore  it,  and  then  lay  it  down.  It  may  press 
heavily  on  us,  at  times,  and  we  may  not  be 
able  to  look  up ;  but  when  it  presses  most 
heavily,  he  wdll  stand  by  us  and  help  us  to 
bear  it.  He  will  divide  the  load,  or  double 
the  strength.  In  looking  unto  him  we  shall 
be  lightened.  In  waiting  on  him  our  strength 
will  be  renewed.  And  through  that  very 
weight  and  pressure,  borne  with  a  meek  and 
chastened  and  trustful  spirit,  things  invisible 
will  grow  clearer  by  degrees.  It  is  the 
deepening  twilight  of  earth  which  shows  the 
stars  of  heaven.  And  in  the  shadows  of  the 
cross  w^e  begin  to  see  the  br^'^htness  of  the 
crown  of  life. 

"  Ye  have  need  of  patience,  that,  after  ye  have  done 
the  will  of  God,  ye  might  receive  the 
promise." — Heb.  x.  36. 


^xbltn  ilTanna. 

"  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden 
manna."  —  Rev.  ii.  17. 

^PHEIR  daily  bread  was  given  to  Israel  in 
the  wilderness  by  the  immediate  hand  of 
God.  Every  dawn,  through  all  these  years 
of  wandering,  the  silent  miracle  came  like 
the  sunlight,  and  the  sweet  provision  was 
sprinkled  round  the  tents  in  the  early  dew. 
And,  as  a  lasting  memorial,  this  manna, 
gathered  into  a  golden  urn,  was  preserved  in 
the  sanctuary  ages  after  the  curtains  of  the 
desert  tabernacle  had  given  place  to  the 
cedar  house  of  Solomon.  This  vessel  of 
manna,  placed  in  the  ark,  stood  in  the  holiest 
of  all,  within  the  vail.  It  was  hidden  from 
the  eyes  of  man.  The  cherubim  of  glory 
overshadowed  it.  The  mystic  Shekinah 
gleamed  above  it. 


102 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


These  things  were  for  an  allegory.  In 
the  manna  which  he  gathered  from  the 
ground,  the  godly  Israelite  saw  an  emblem 
of  Him  who  said,  in  after  time,  "  I  am  the 
bread  of  life."  Every  dewdrop,  in  which  a 
seed  of  that  heaven-sown  provision  lay,  held 
its  image  of  the  Saviour.  He  is  the  "  true 
bread,"  "  the  living  bread  which  came  down 
from  heaven,  whereof  if  a  man  eat,  he  shall 
live  for  ever." 

AVherever  the  faintest  pulses  of  spiritual 
life  are  beating,  that  life  has  been  implanted 
by  him,  and  by  him  it  will  be  nourished  and 
maintained.  He  now,  within  the  vail,  min- 
isters by  his  Spirit  all  needful  supplies  of 
grace  to  his  people.  For  the  hidden  life,  he 
provides  "  hidden  manna."  He  gives  meat 
to  eat  which  the  world  knoweth  not  of." 
Nor,  though  hidden,"  is  it  the  less  abun- 
dant, though  unbelief  often  checks  the  free 
supply.  The  hand  may  be  secret,  but  the 
gift  is  generous  and  godhke.  The  manna 
laid  up  in  heaven's  golden  urn  is  inexhaust- 


THE  HIDDEN  MANNA. 


103 


ible  as  his  love.  It  is  not  "  sliew-bread," 
hallowed  and  forbidden  to  common  use,  —  but 
"  daily  bread,"  dispensed  with  divine  pro- 
fusion, and  without  which  our  souls  must 
starve  and  pine.  We  can  not  measure  our 
necessities.  Let  us  not  limit  our  demands. 
Let  us  ask  much,  that  we  may  receive  much. 

And  this  is  meat  which  enduretli  to 
everlasting  life."  It  is  to  him  that  over- 
cometh"  it  will  be  given.  It  is  himself  that' 
Christ  will  give  in  all  his  fullness  of  grace 
and  affluence  of  glory,  for  the  endless  frui- 
tion of  the  redeemed.  Every  high  and  pure 
desire  will  possess  itself  in  him.  In  him 
they  will  find  an  infinite  resource  for  an  in- 
finite affection. 

The  manna,  laid  up  in  the  golden  vessel, 
underwent  no  change.  Nor  will  the  "bread 
of  heaven "  ever  lose  its  sweetness  to  the 
spiritual  taste  ;  but  Christ  will  be  the  only- 
desired  and  all-sufficing  portion  of  the  saints. 
If,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  he  spake  of  his 
I    greatest   miracles    as      crumbs "  from  his 


104 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


table  (as  if  they  had  dropped  carelessly  from 
his  hand),  what  will  be  the  children's 
bread"?  If  from  the  five  loaves  of  the 
fisher  lad  of  Tiberias  he  fed  the  multitude  in 
the  desert,  what  will  it  be,  when  he  gathers 
his  saints  in  ranks  around  him  to  satisfy  the 
mighty  longing  of  eternity? 

Here  on  earth  let  us  seek  to  be  brought, 
at  every  point  of  our  weakness  and  want, 
into  contact  with  that  grace  which  is  bound- 
less and  all-available.  And  hereafter,  through 
every  affection  and  energy  of  a  purified 
nature,  we  shall  be  drawn  to  the  communion 
of  his  love,  and  be  filled  with  all  the 
fullness  of  God." 

"  I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  thy  likeness." 
Psalm  xvii.  15. 


•o»o»'  j»(  f.  j»Q«0(  "  * ' " 


»  e  •  e  e  •rwo 

>  o  o  o  V  o'<:>''< ' 


O«O«O«0«j«i.'»C>«IO«O«O»0«O«O«O»O«Cj»  •  ©  ©"  ©       '9       ©  '©  ©  j©b» 

•C»0»0»C«0«0#0»0»0«0«0«0»0#0»0»0»Cj©0«0*0«0«0»0©O#0©O«O«O»C«0#0«O 


Slje  lD[)it€  Stolu  anir  tlje  ^^id  ^anu. 

And  I  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a 
new  name  written,  which  no  man  knoweth,  saving  he 
that  receiveth  it."  —  Rev.  ii.  17. 

n^HE  world  in  its  wrath  and  pride  had 
risen  up  against  the  bearers  of  the  cross. 
It  was  not  worthy  of  them,  but  it  treated 
them  as  if  they  were  not  worthy  of  it.  The 
hohest  was  the  most  shining  mark  for  the 
arraign  of  slander.  The  weakest  was  not 
too  low  to  be  crushed  by  its  iron  heel  of 
power.  The  w^orld's  law  had  no  even  scales 
and  bandaged  eyes  before  the  cross.  And 
when  one,  "not  ashamed"  of  that  cross,  was 
dragged  before  its  tribunals,  each  judge 
dropped  the  black  stone  into  the  urn.  Each 
would  have  written  on  that  stone  a  name  of 
bitter  hatred  and  falsehood  and  scorn,  had 
he  spoken  out  what  he  believed  a  Christian 


106 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


man  to  be.  Christ  was  scourged  and  cruci- 
fied, —  Barabbas  went  free. 

The  offense  of  the  cross  is  not  ceased." 
There  is  open  condemnation  for  the  Christian 
here ;  but  there  is  open  absolution  there. 
The  Master  saith  to  every  tried  and  faithful 
servant,  "  I  will  give  thee  a  white  stone,  and 
in  the  stone  a  new  name  written,  —  my  own 
name ! "  Antipas  had  been  condemned  to 
die  for  Christ  in  the  court  of  Pergamos ;  but 
the  lictor's  stroke  releases  him  from  the 
world's  wrong  and  pain,  and  he  goes  to  re- 
ceive the  white  stone  "  from  the  hand  of 
his  Lord. 

Even  on  earth,  the  white  stone  with  the 
new  name  is  given.  Have  we  chosen  Christ 
as  our  Master?  Have  we  received  him  as 
"  the  Lord  our  Righteousness  "  ?  Have  we 
peace  with  God  through  the  blood  of  his 
cross  "  ?  Does  his  Spirit  dwell  in  us  ?  That 
"  white  stone,"  token  of  forgiveness,  emblem 
of  innocence  and  favor,  is  ours ;  and  though 
worlds  were  in  the  one  scale,  this  httle  sym- 


THE  WHITE  STONE  AND  THE  NEW  NAME.  107 


bol  would  outweigh  them,  if  cast  into  the 
other.  When  justified,  we  receive  it,  and 
the  "new  name "  which  is  in  it  the  Spirit 
writes  upon  our  hearts.  He  erases  the  name 
"  child  of  wrath,"  and  writes  Christ's  own 
name,  "  Son  of  God."  And  when  his  clear 
and  holy  light  shines  on  the  letters  of  that 
name,  and  it  brightens  in  the  heart,  like  the 
jeweled  stones  of  the  Urim  and  Tliummim 
in  the  darkened  sanctuary,  the  soul  cries, 
Abba,  Father !  I,  an  heir  of  condemnation, 
am  become  heir  of  God,  and  joint-heir  with 
Christ." 

This  is  the  seal  of  the  Spirit,  "  which  no 
man  knoweth,  saving  he  that  receiveth  it." 

The  world  seeth  him  not,  neither  knoweth 
him,"  but  we  know  him,  for  he  dwelletli 
with  us,  and  is  in  us."  The  world  can  not 
know  the  inward  evidence ;  be  it  ours  to 
show  it  the  outward  sign.  That  new  name, 
written  in  the  fair  letters  of  a  saintly  life,  a 
crucified  spirit,  a  heavenly  mind,  should  be 
"  known  and  read  of  all  men."    As  we  go 


108 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


on  our  way,  let  us  silently  preach  Christ  to 
others.  Let  our  life  be  a  sweet  attraction, 
—  our  look  a  tender  invitation.  And  some 
Avho  would  not  read  a  written  epistle  may 
be  constrained  to  read  the  luminous  words 
of  a  living  one. 

In  the  new  Jerusalem,  the  "  new  name  " 
is  bright  on  every  brow.  Yet  the  old  name 
of  earth  will  not  be  forgotten  there.  For 
though  resting  with  his  Lord,  Christ's  ser- 
vant, slaughtered  at  Pergamos,  is  still  An- 
tipas,  my  faithful  martyr."  For  him  Glory 
had  no  laurel.  History  no  niche,  Poetry  no 
song,  and  his  ashes  were  scattered  on  the 
winds,  or  gathered  into  a  nameless  urn. 
But  his  name  was  spoken  out  of  heaven  by 
the  lips  of  Christ. 


"  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name;  thou  art  mine/* 
Isaiah  xliii.  1. 


iHorning-Star. 

"  I  will  give  him  the  morning-star."  —  Rev.  ii.  28. 

TT  is  a  desperate  warfare  which  the  soldier 
of  Christ  wages  with  his  invisible  foes. 
It  often  seems  to  last  through  long  hours  of 
darkness.  His  only  resource  is  to  look  up 
and  pray  for  light.  Through  the  weary 
watches,  he  cries,  "  Oh  that  the  day  would 
break,  and  the  shadows  flee  away !  "  And 
gleams  of  light  fall  through  the  clouds,  and 
he  sees  that  there  is  One  who  fights  for  him, 
—  One  who  has  fought  and  overcome,  and 
w^hose  presence  is  the  pledge  of  victory.  As 
Luther  Sinai's  in  the  battle- son o;  of  the  Ref- 
ormation :  — 

"  No  strength  of  ours  checks  Satan's  pride; 
To  tempt  it  is  perdition: 
But  the  right  Man  fights  on  our  side; 
From  God  is  his  commission. 


110  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

Ask  ye,  who  is  the  same  ? 
Christ  Jesus  is  his  name,  — 
The  Lord  of  heaven's  host; 
No  other  Lord  we  boast, 
And  he  the  day  must  carry." 

To  him  that  fights  the  good  fight  of  faith, 
the  heavenly  Captain  says,  "  I  will  give  thee 
the  morning-star ! "  As  if  that  fair,  white 
orb,  whose  dewdrop  of  light  trenr.bles  on  the 
front  of  dawn,  is  to  sparkle  on  the  victor's 
brow.  The  "  spiritual  body  "  may  be  crown- 
ed with  some  such  glorious  symbol  in  heaven. 
Some  bright  device  of  immortality  may  dis- 
tinguish apostle  or  martyr  among  the  sons 
of  God,  so  that  around  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness the  saints,  shining  like  morning- 
stars,  may  move  in  glorious  rings,  —  each  to 
each  signaling  his  name,  through  the  bound- 
less deeps  of  eternity. 

But  Christ  consecrates  the  symbol  by 
making  it  a  type  of  himself:  "I  am  the 
bright  and  Morning-Star."  In  giving  such 
a  token  of  favor,  he  gives  himself  to  his  re- 
deemed, in  a  fullness  of  joy  and  light  and 


THE  MORNING-STAR.  Ill 

glory  of  which  they  can  not  conceive  in  this 
twilight-time  of  earth.  He  will  appear  to 
them  as  the  sign  of  hope  and  gladness, — 
the  Star  of  the  Resurrection  Morn ;  and 
that  sweet  light  will  prelude  the  long,  unset- 
ting  watches  of  the  eternal  day. 

And  in  that  light  shall  they  be  changed. 
This  "  corruptible  shall  put  on  incorruption, 
and  this  mortal  immortality,"  and  the  body 
of  our  vileness  be  made  like  to  the  body  of 
his  glory,"  —  shining  like  the  hght,  filled 
with  holy  gladness  and  divine  illumination. 
Yet  a  few  days  of  warfare  and  weariness, 
and   this   glory  shall   be   revealed  in  us. 

Christ  our  Life  shall  appear,"  and  "  we 
shall  be  like  him." 

Are  we  girding  on  our  armor,  like  good 
soldiers,  and  standing  on  our  watch  ?  Are 
we  bindino;  on  our  sandals  and  trimmino;  our 
lamps,  like  servants  who  would  be  found 
faithful  ?  The  long  night  will  wear  to  an 
end ;  the  hard  struggle  will  end  in  victory. 
And  then  will  come  the  cloudless  day  and 


112 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


the  spotless  robe  and  sinless  peace  and  end- 
less rest. 

"  Light  is  sown  for  the  righteous,  and 
gladness  for  the  upright  in  heart."  Here  it 
lies  in  the  furrows,  under  the  mold,  in  a  rude 
and  ungenial  clime.  There  it  shall  have 
blossomed  and  ripened  wdth  hundred-fold  in- 
crease, and  the  rich  fruitage  will  w^ave  thick 
and  golden  through  the  long  summer-time 
of  eternity.  One  ray  of  heaven's  sunshine 
will  be  brighter  than  firmaments  of  earthly 
suns  and  stars.  The  gleaning  of  the  grapes 
of  that  celestial  growth  will  be  better  than 
the  richest  vintages  of  earth.  Our  life- 
gathered  wisdom  is  but  the  alphabet  of 
heaven's  full-toned  speech  ;  our  highest  dis- 
coveries, the  crude  rudiments  of  its  learning. 
The  Ark  of  Eternity  floats  on  waters  that 
drown  the  loftiest  Ararats  of  Time. 

*'He  will  beautify  the  meek  with  salvation." 
Psalm  cxlix.  4. 


©Ije  |)tUar  tn  tlje  S^mpU. 

"  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple 
of  m}'  God." — Rev.  iii.  12. 

^HE  foundations  of  a  spiritual  temple  are 
already  laid  in  the  world.  Out  of  the 
loud  tumult  and  false  appearances  of  Time, 
God's  great  work  calmly  unfolds  itself,  and 
rises  without  sound  of  axe  or  hammer." 
Stone  by  stone,  and  course  by  course,  it  will 
be  built  up  and  compacted,  till  "  the  head 
stone  is  brought  forth  Avith  slioutings." 

Here,  in  the  temple  of  the  visible  church, 
those  "  who  seem  to  be  pillars "  are  often 
shaken  and  removed  ;  and  our  hearts  trem- 
ble, and  faith  droops,  as  if  God's  cause  would 
fall  with  them.  But  no  earthly  hand  sup- 
ports that  cause,  —  no  more  than  the  granite 
battlements  of  a  mountain -chain  prop  up 
the  crystal  vault  which  in  the  distance  seems 
to  rest  upon  them 

8 


114 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


The  heavenly  Master  calls  his  servants  to 
himself  when  their  earthly  work  is  done, 
and  gives  them  the  place  prepared  for  them 
in  the  "  house  not  made  witli  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens."  Blessed  labor,  —  holy  war- 
fare,—  to  be  assured  of  such  a  recompense. 
To  the  weakest  faith,  to  the  faintest  heart, 
in  which  a  spark  of  spiritual  life  glows  and 
trembles  Godwards,  it  will  be  given  in  the 
strength  of  Christ  to  overcome.  And  for 
victory  so  gained,  there  is  this  exceeding 
great  reward.  He  shall  have  an  abiding- 
place  and  name  in  heaven,  —  be  made  ''a 
pillar  in  the  temple,"  —  that  which  is  essential 
to  its  beauty  and  completeness.  As  a  pillar, 
to  stand  there  for  ever  in  the  presence  of  his 
Saviour,  —  to  go  no  more  out,  —  to  feel  that 
no  violence  can  assail  him,  no  trouble  reach 
him,  no  evil  breathe  upon  him  any  more. 
There  is  nothing  deep  enough  in  all  God's 
universe  to  loosen  the  foundations  of  his 
trust,  —  nothing  strong  enough  to  come  in 
and  separate  between  him  and  the  almighty 


THE  PILLAR  IN  THE  TEMPLE.  115 

love  in  which  he  stands.  His  "  hfe  is  hid 
with  Christ  in  God,"  and  tlie  hand  that 
would  threaten  this  life  must  strike  through 
Christ's  love  and  God's  omnipotence  before 
it  reach  it. 

Till  all  his  saints  are  set  in  everlasting 
station  there,  Christ  waits  as  for  the  out- 
shining of  his  glory  and  fulfilling  of  his 
joy.  Till  the  Father's  house  is  filled  with 
all  its  guests,  the  heavenly  temple  is  not 
graced  with  all  its  pillars,  nor  garnished  with 
all  its  sacred  ornaments.  But  it  will  be 
filled  at  last.  Not  one  pillar  will  be  want- 
ing, —  not  one  of  his  redeemed  left  behind, 
—  not  one  jewel  of  eternity  left  forgotten  in 
the  dust  of  earth.  Every  mansion  w^ill  have 
its  bright  inhabitant,  and  every  golden  harp 
its  selected  minstrel. 

And  for  this  "  time  of  restitution "  he 
waits,  while  here  we  serve  him  with  cold 
hearts  and  languid  endeavors.  How  do  our 
hands  hang  down,  and  our  feet  falter  in  the 
way !    How  do  we  sit  desponding  in  the 


116 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


dust,  or  stand  idle  in  the  market-place,  or 
slumber  on  the  watch  with  dying  lamps  in 
our  hand,  when  we  should  be  looking  for 
and  hasting  unto  "  him,  serving  him  with  a 
fervent  spirit,  suffering  for  him  with  a  patient 
and  joyful  mind  !  -% 

We  are  here  as  "  reeds  shaken  with  the 
wind "  and  bruised  by  storms ;  but  "  the 
bruised  reed  he  will  not  break  ;  "  and,  through 
his  all-sufficient  grace,  it  will  grow  up  into 
the  strength  and  steadfastness  of  a  "  cedar 
in  Lebanon."  The  progress  of  the  divine 
life  within  us  may  be  slow,  but  "  he  will 
bring  forth  judgment  unto  victory."  Let  us 
abide  in  him  who  is  "  the  Author  and  Fin- 
isher of  our  faith."  He  will  not  "  forsake 
the  work  of  his  own  hands." 


"Thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great.'* 
Psalm  xviii.  35. 


^l)t  Inscnpttona  on  tlje  pillar. 

"  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God." 
Rev.  iii.  12. 

"FT  ERE  and  there,  in  the  desolate  plains 
and  valleys  of  the  Lesser  Asia,  some 
moldering  columns,  amidst  heaps  of  ruin,  or 
lettered  marbles,  shattered  and  defaced,  point 
out  where  a  city  has  perished.  These  were 
pillars  of  stately  temples  reared  to  the  gods 
of  Olympus,  —  memorial  tablets  which  Eph- 
esus,  or  Sardis,  or  Philadelphia,  had  dedi- 
cated to  some  prince  or  citizen. 

The  Christian  men,  to  whom  the  apostle 
wrote,  passed  these  temples  daily,  where 
the  white  marble  dazzled  in  the  sunshine, 
and  the  golden  letters  of  these  inscriptions 
flashed  in  the  light.  They  had  read  the 
name  of  the  god  or  hero  to  whom  each  was 
consecrated,  the"  name  of  the  city  in  which 


118 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


it  was  reared,  and  the  name  of  its  founder. 
These  were  the  men,  "  in  jeopardy  every 
hour,"  whom  Christ  encouraged  to  "  fight 
the  good  fight,"  by  the  promise  that  they 
should  be*"  pillars"  in  the  heavenly  temple. 
His  own  hand  was  to  place  them  there,  and 
to  grave  on  them  the  words  of  solemn  con- 
secration. 

"  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my 
God  !  "  For  it  is  by  his  grace  they  were 
"  called  and  chosen "  and  kept  "  faithful," 
and  to  his  glory  are  they  standing  there  for 
ever.  The  name  of  the  city  of  my  God 
which  is  new  Jerusalem,"  —  for  this  is  the 
place  of  their  spiritual  birth  and  citizenship, 
—  the  blessed  community  into  which  they 
are  gathered,  —  the  mother-city,  and  abiding 
habitation  of  their  souls.  They  are  in  it 
and  of  it;  and  "  the  city  which  hath  founda- 
tions "  would  not  be  complete  and  faultlessly 
beautiful  in  the  eyes  of  its  builder,  if  one  of 
them  were  not  there. 

And  lastly,  —  the  name  of  Him  who  founds 


THE  INSCRIPTIONS  ON  THE  PILLAR.  119 


and  dedicates  the  sacred  columns, —  "  I  will 
write  upon  him  my  new  name."  His  name 
was  glorious  as  the  everlasting  Son  of  the 
Father ;  but  when  he  stooped  from  his 
throne,  and  wore  our  flesh,  and  suffered,  and 
died,  the  Father  highly  exalted  him,  and 
gave  him  a  name  above  every  name." 

This  blessed  name,  which  here  they  bear 
and  love,  will  be  written  visibly  hereafter  on 
each  of  the  redeemed.  Thus  he  will  claim 
in  them  a  perpetual  possession,  and  give 
them  assurance  of  his  everlasting  love.  "  I 
have  graven  thee  on  the  palms  of  my  hands," 
he  said,  in  suffering  for  them ;  and  now, 
when  they  reign  with  him,  it  is  his  own 
name  which  he  engraves.  The  name  of 
Jesus  is  cut  deep  in  each  of  these  living 
pillars,  as  in  eternal  adamant.  "  God  is  not 
ashamed  to  be  called  their  God."  Christ 

is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren." 
The  new  Jerusalem "  rejoices  to  be  the 
mother  of  them  all. 

Shall  we  shrink  from  confessing  that  name. 


120 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


which  is  to  be  the  endlessly-repeated  sign 
and  cipher  of  heaven  ?  Shall  we  be  "  asham- 
ed "  of  his  cross?  Here  that  name  should 
be  written  on  the  front  of  our  profession,  — 
a  golden  title,  running  along  every  page  of 
life.  Oh  that  it  were  not  so  often  hidden 
beneath  the  gathering  dust  and  mold  of  the 
world,  —  that  its  luster  did  not  wax  dim  and 
fade  in  this  false  and  wildering  glare  !  That 
we  could  ever  bear  it  in  the  strength  of 
quietness  and  confidence  and  deep  untroub- 
led joy,  —  that  our  hearts  could  be,  like  the 
Grecian  mountain,  so  calm  and  windless 
that  the  letters,  traced  by  the  priest  in  the 
ashes  of  the  yearly  sacrifice,  remained  un- 
effaced  upon  the  altar. 

What  manner  of  persons  ought  we  to 
be,"  when  we  think  of  the  rock  whence  we 
were  hewn,  and  of  the  temple  wherein  we 
hope  to  stand? 

They  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  that 
day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels." 
Malachi  iii.  17. 


utije  0£at  on  tlje  (iLl)roiu 


"  To  him  that  overcometli  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my 


ERE  that  glory  culminates,  which  is 


reserved  for  those  who  have  followed 
Christ  in  this  temptation.  This  is  the  high- 
est reach, —  the  fullest  growth  and  flower 
of  their  blessedness.  Step  hy  step,  he  has 
cheered  them  on  with  sweet  words  of  prom- 
ise ;  and  now  he  leads  them  to  his  throne, 
and  bids  them  mount  its  shinino;  stairs,  and 
sit  thereon  in  rest  and  glory  everlasting.  A 
sudden  transition  of  thouo:ht  from  the  atti- 
tude  of  standino;  and  knockini?;  at  the  closed 
door  of  the  heart  (v.  20).  There  the  prom- 
ise is,  that,  when  we  open  the  door,"  he 
will  come  in  "  with  the  blessings  of  salva- 
tion. Here  it  is  that  we,  having  thus  re- 
ceived him,  and  been    accepted  in  the  Be- 


throne."  —  Rev.  iii.  21. 


122 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


loved,"  will  be  led  by  him  through  the  open 
door  of  the  Father's  house,  and  presented 
faultless  "  before  him,  and  seated  with  our 
Lord  upon  his  throne.  What  appeal  could 
be  made  to  the  believino;  heart  so  strong:  and 
tender  as  this,  in  which  the  Saviour  stands 
before  us.  One  with  his  suffering.  One  with 
his  glorified  people  ?  What  can  nerve  us  to 
the  holy  obedience  and  strenuous  warfare  of 
the  Christian  life,  if  not  the  thought  of  that 
union  whose  livino;  links  Christ's  own  hand 
clasps  and  rivets  ?  What,  if  not  the  assur- 
ance of  that  intense  sympathy  and  spiritual 
communion,  which,  from  the  moment  it 
begins  on  earth,  will  not  cease  till  it  is  per- 
fected in  heaven  ?  In  this  holy  ground,  the 
Saviour  has  opened  the  deepest  and  fullest 
springs  of  comfort  to  his  people  in  this  wait- 
ing-time. We  can  trace  in  his  last  earthly 
words  the  recurrence  and  expansion  of  this 
thought,  like  the  coming  and  going  of  a 
sweeter  understrain  in  a  grand  and  solemn 
melody. 


THE  SEAT  ON  THE  THRONE. 


123 


It  Is,  first,  a  promise  of  peace,  —  liis  own 
peace.  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  niy  peace 
I  give  unto  you."  Then  it  is  a  promise  of 
joy,  —  his  own  joy.  Tiiat  my  joy  mii^ht 
remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might  be 
fulL"  Then,  in  his  dying  prayer,  his  love 
rises  to  its  spring-tide,  and  it  is  a  promise  of 
glory,  —  his  own  glory.  ''The  glory  which 
thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them,  that  they 
may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one." 

From  the  throne  on  which  he  sits.  Lord 
of  Glory  and  King  of  Saints,  his  eye  com- 
mands the  checkered  track  of  each,  as  it 
winds  through  the  wilderness,  and  goes 
down  into  the  shadow  of  the  valley,  and 
issues  bright  and  straight  from  death  to  the 
gate  of  heaven,  and  thence  to  the  throne. 
He  sees  each,  in  his  turn,  overcoming 
through  grace  which  he  supplies,  —  each 
emerging  victorious  to  receive  the  recom- 
pense which  his  grace  hath  promised.  For 
on  that  throne  he  alone  sits  by  right,  they 
by  favor.     He  sits  thereon,  Head  of  the 


124  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


spiritual  body  which  is  exalted  in  him, — 
first-born  among  many  brethren,"  — whom 
he  uplifts  to  his  own  honor  and  blessedness. 
And  angels,  those  elder  brethren  of  creation, 
who  never  left  the  Father's  house,  see  this 
exaltation  of  the  younger,  who  had  fallen, 
without  a  murmur.  They  will  rejoice  in 
our  joy ;  and  with  us,  though  not  like  us, 
adore  that  love  which  has  closed  up  all  its 
mysterious  passages  in  this  grand  result. 

How  far  off  do  we  stand  from  the  bright- 
ness of  such  hopes !  How  do  the  shadows 
and  powers  of  this  evil  world  darken  our 
spirit  and  chill  our  praises !  How  do  we 
"  see  him  as  not  now,  and  behold  him  as 
not  nigh !  "  What  a  faint  response  do  we 
send  up  to  that  wondrous  prayer  that  rises 
within  the  vail !  There  "  he  abideth  faith- 
ful," and  prays  that  our  faith  fail  not ! 

"It  is  a  faithful  saying:  If  we  be  dead  with  him,  we 
shall  also  live  with  him ;  if  we  suffer,  we 
shall  also  reign  with  him."  — 
2  Tim.  ii.  11,  12. 


"  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  pre- 
pared for  them  that  love  him."  —  1  Cor.  ii.  9. 


^HINGS  which  God  hath  prepared  for 


our  minds  strive  to  grasp  them,  and  grope, 
dazzled,  through  a  mist  of  glory !  What 
must  be  the  delights  and  enjoyments,  which, 
slowly  as  it  were,  he  has  gathered  into  the 
chambers  of  his  house, — the  heaped -up 
"  riches  of  his  glory,"  —  the  un wasting  re- 
sources of  eternity  !  It  is  "  an  inheritance 
reserved  in  heaven,"  an  expression  which 
implies  surpassing  splendor  and  profound 
concealment.  How  can  we  conceive  of 
blessedness  so  pure  and  ethereal  as  that 
which  God  "  hides  in  the  secret  of  his  pres- 
ence "  ?  Our  thoughts  stumble  and  falter 
among  the  elemental  truths  which  form  the 


them  that  love  him 


how  vainly  do 


126  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 

lowest  step  of  his  throne,  —  and  how  can 
they  chmb  up  to  its  radiant  summits? 

Therefore  the  hints  and  foreshadowings 
given  in  the  holy  Word  of  tlie  great  happi- 
ness of  heaven,  are  so  often  conveyed  in 
negative  form.  They  shall  hunger  no 
more,  neither  thirst  any  more."  "  There 
shall  be  no  more  curse."  There  shall  be 
no  night  there."  There  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither 
shall  there  be  any  more  pain."  "  The  for- 
mer things  are  passed  away."  We  can  not 
reach  the  positive  reality  of  an  infinite  joy. 
Our  conceptions  are  cast  into  the  mold  of 
things  around  us.  We  strive,  how  vainly, 
to  shape  the  perishing  and  evanescent  forms 
of  Sense  into  types  and  similitudes  of  eter- 
nal Truth.  But  far  beyond  the  range  of 
thought,  —  the  sphere  of  pure  imagination, — 
those  thino;s  are  withdrawn  into  a  remon  and 
element  of  their  own,  when  it  is  said,  "  they 
have  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man." 
Yet  God  hath  revealed  them  to  us  by 


RICHES  OF  GLORY. 


127 


his  Spirit."  He  has  even  on  earth  endued 
the  regenerate  nature  with  some  power  to 
discern  tlie  character  of  that  glory,  which, 
as  of  spiritual  essence,  must  remain  for  ever 
a  mystery  to  the  natural  mind.  And  he  has 
inspired  it  with  holy  affections  to  love  and 
long  for  the  enjoyment  of  that  which  it 
dimly  sees,  with  a  passionate  desire.  Only 
heaven's  glory  can  satisfy  these  fervent 
lono:inp:s  throu2;h  which  the  heart  throbs  as 
if  it  would  break  in  the  utterance: — ''As 
the  hart  panteth  after  the  water-brooks,  so 
panteth  my  soul  after  thee,  O  God,"  — 
''  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  and 
there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside 
thee?"  It  is  only  the  spiritual  mind  that 
can  thus  ''see  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  be 
satisfied  to  build  up  from  such  materials  the 
fabric  of  its  eternal  hopes. 

Wonderful  grace,  that  mortal  eye  should 
ever  have  seen  the  faintest  vision  of  this 
glory  afar  off,  —  as  the  beloved  disciple, 
wdien  the  bright   foundations    and  crystal 


128 


THE  CELESTIAL  CITY. 


battlements  and  golden  streets  of  the  heav- 
enly city  shut  out  the  brown  sea -beaten 
rocks  of  Patmos  from  his  view.  But  p:race 
more  wonderful,  that  hope  should  ever  have 
come  to  one  who  has  felt  the  weisfht  and 
bitterness  of  sin,  that  he  should  go  up  into 
it  as  the  city  of  his  habitation,  and  walk 
amongst  its  happy  citizens,  and  go  out  no 
more  ! 

That  Lord's-day  "  in  Patmos  was  much 
to  be  remembered.  The  Apocalypse  is  the 
record  of  its  holy  hours.  '  But  how  much 
more  glorious  the  open  vision  of  that  never- 
ending  Sabbath  which  remaineth  for  the 
people  of  God."  What  an  Apocalypse  will 
that  be,  in  which  the  glorified  sjjirit  records 
its  experiences  of  eternity  ! 

"  Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  commandments,  that  they  may 
have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city." 
Rev.  xxii.  14. 

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